


Maria's Adventures: Halloween Isle

by CrossingTheFourthWall



Series: Maria's Adventures [14]
Category: One Piece
Genre: "haunted" house, Gen, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-16 14:11:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 117,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12344268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrossingTheFourthWall/pseuds/CrossingTheFourthWall
Summary: Having joined with the Straw Hats and survived Water 7, Maria thought she was prepared for whatever could come next. But an entire island with a Halloween theme and zombies to boot? Something else was afoot here.





	1. Flare Barrels, Ghost Ships, and the Singing Skeleton!

_ In a world where water takes up more space than the land, pirates roam freely, pillaging villages and finding treasure in the most unlikely of places. Each crew, when it gains enough infamy, has at least one bounty put on the head of a crewmember -- normally, the captain. However, there is one crew that has, incredibly, a bounty on  _ every _crew member._

_ The Straw Hats, with a total of 635,000,050 Beri: Straw Hat Luffy, Pirate Hunter Zoro, Cat Burglar Nami, "Sogeking," Black Leg Sanji, Cotton Candy-loving Chopper, Demon of Ohara Nico Robin, Cyborg Franky, and Fire Staff Maria. _

_ After declaring war on the World Government, the crew left Water 7 with two added crew members and a new ship, aiming for the New World.... _

It was a few days after the events in the Frozen Highway that Maria's wish for a peaceful voyage to the New World was hopelessly shattered.

The day had started out calmly enough; the crew had gotten up at pretty much the same time and had eaten breakfast in the galley -- Maria was definitely getting used to the fact that Luffy would trying to take everything in reach for the sake of his stomach -- and then everyone would split to do whatever it was that they wanted.

In Maria's case, after checking on her Berry trees and harvesting what she could, the amnesiac took her reading and writing materials and she moved under one of the trees planted on the main deck before opening _The Lord of the Rings._

"I really need to finish this off," Maria muttered under her breath, "or else I'm going to never be able to get to read it, considering how much time I'm running around whacking people." She quickly found the place where she had left off last and started reading, picking up on Frodo's journey from where she had left him last.

Maria _thought_ that she was going to be left alone, but unfortunately, she wasn't that lucky. Within an hour, Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy had run over to the tree she was sitting under and instantly taken over the swing that was hanging there.

"All right, let's see how far it is that I can go!" Usopp jumped into the swing and started to go back and forth, grinning widely as Chopper and Luffy cheered him on.

Maria looked up from her books and frowned slightly at the trio. However, she soon rolled her eyes and went back to reading, watching out of the corner of her eye as Usopp, then Chopper went flying off the swing with yells of delight.

Maria flinched as Chopper landed on his head. "Are you sure jumping like that is wise?"

"It's fun!" Usopp corrected, laughing. He grinned. "Maybe you should try it."

"Yeah!" Luffy agreed, nodding vigorously.

Maria frowned for a moment, considering the offer. "Well, I kinda came out here because I wanted to get a little reading done...."

Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper all gained disappointed expressions.

"...but I guess there's nothing really wrong with me giving it a try." Maria put _The Lord of the Rings_ aside and got up to her feet, which caused the trio to cheer excitedly as she sat down on the swing.

"All right. Here goes." Maria backed up as much as she could before starting to swing, using her legs and upper body to gain as much momentum as she dared. It didn't take her too long to get to the height she wanted, and the teenager was soon jumping into the air to the cheers of Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp. She landed a short distance away, bending her legs to keep herself from falling over.

"How was that?" Maria asked, looking over at the boys.

"Great!" Usopp replied, grinning widely.

"You didn't go as far as I did, though!" Chopper pointed out proudly.

"Well, I didn't want to land on my _head_ like you did." Maria smirked as she walked back over to where her books were lying in the grass, and she sat down and picked up _The Lord of the Rings_.

At the same time, a certain rubbery captain had scrambled onto the swing himself, planting his feet squarely on the seat as he started getting the swing to move back and forth a little bit.

Maria eyed Luffy, wondering why it was that he had decided to pick an orange vest and red shorts for today...and wondered if he was planning on copying the colors she normally wore on purpose.

"The next one is Luffy!" Usopp cried out. "Go!"

As soon as Usopp gave that signal, Luffy leapt off the barely-swinging swing with enough force to send him flying into a wall below the front upper deck. While Usopp and Chopper cheered at how far their captain had flown, Maria let out a bout of laughter at the sight of Luffy slamming into the wall and collapsing.

"Awesome landing!" Usopp and Chopper exclaimed together.

Maria snorted. "If that's you guys' definition of a landing, I'd hate to see what a crash looks like!"

Luffy suddenly leapt up from where he had fallen dazed onto the deck, and he ran over to Usopp and Chopper. "Hey, let's all get on the swing and jump off it at once!"

"Yeah!"

Maria shook her head at the trio's antics and turned her attention back to her book as the door to the galley opened.

"Hey, you three!" Sanji called from the back upper deck. "Instead of playing around, how about you go and get some of the octopi from yesterday's big catch?"

"Octopi?" the three repeated, looking up at Sanji. Luffy slowed down in his swinging as Usopp and Chopper exchanged wide-eyed glances before they started to drool.

"Yeah. I'm thinking of making some takomeshini, maybe some takoshabu..."

Maria licked her lips, catching some of the drool that was attempting to slip out of her mouth at the thought of Sanji's cooking. She had been getting the feeling over the last few days that she hadn't eaten very much in the way of seafood before, and she was enjoying everything that Sanji had put in front of her so far. She wondered if Sanji was going somewhere with listing off meal ideas involving octopi. 

"I was thinking of preparing octopus for today," Sanji concluded.

Luffy let out an excited yell; Maria could see the drool coming out of his mouth. "Sounds great! Oh, Sanji -- make some Takoyaki, too!"

"Many takoyakis!" Usopp and Chopper exclaimed together.

"I got it, I got it. I'll be counting on you to get the octopi, then."

"You got it!" the trio exclaimed in reply. They scrambled away from the swing and towards the only accessible hatch that led down to the aquarium, leaving Maria sitting alone under the swing tree.

"Maybe now I can get some reading done," Maria commented, moving back to where she had last been in her book. "Now, let's see...."

Maria had managed to get Frodo and the his other traveling companions out of the hotel they had been staying at when Nami started yelling.

"Usopp's in trouble! He got caught by the octopi!" Nami called out from the aquarium room.

"Usopp! Grab on!" Luffy yelled.

Maria turned and glanced back at the upper deck, then got to her feet and scrambled up to the aquarium's hatch. The amnesiac had to stop short a few feet because of the little red octopi that were scattered all over the deck.

"Usopp!" Chopper was looking down into the black, churning water anxiously. "Are you all right?!"

"It's no use." Luffy continued fishing around with his left hand in the black water. "I can't tell where he is because of all of the ink!"

"What caused the octopi to attack him in the first place?" Maria asked, getting down on her knees next to Chopper.

"He jumped in with these two _huge_ spatulas so that he could throw the octopi up here," Chopper explained without looking up. "He must've upset them somehow, and made one of them spit out ink. I hope that he isn't in too much trouble."

Luffy let out a yelp as he was suddenly pulled forward; Maria and Chopper both leapt to his aid and pulled back so that Luffy wouldn't end up getting pulled into the aquarium.

Their captain shook his head, causing droplets of water and ink to scatter. A grin appeared on his face. "If I know where they're hiding...." He started to wind up his arms. "Gum Gum...."

"Uh oh." Maria quickly scrambled back from the hatch a short distance.

"Gatling!"

Black water sprayed up in all directions as Luffy's fists slammed into the water. Moments later, a certain sharpshooter was suddenly thrown out of the water and collapsed onto the deck among the octopi that had been tossed out moments before.

"He's alive!" Luffy exclaimed in relief.

"I'm glad." Chopper sighed out of relief.

"As if you regret it!" Usopp leapt to his feet and turned sharply to glare at Luffy, revealing the fact that he had large bumps all over his face -- probably from where Luffy managed to hit him.

Maria winced from where she was sitting on the deck. "Um, ouch? That looks like it hurts."

Usopp muttered something that sounded like a mix between a confirmation and a curse before he stomped away, gathering the octopi that were lying out on the deck.

"They're so noisy about catching some stupid octopi," Maria heard Sanji mutter.

"You were the one who told us to get them!" Usopp roared at the cook in response.

Just the way Usopp said it caused Luffy and Chopper to collapse into bouts of laughter while Maria sighed and shook her head. "Boys...."

"Oi! There's something floating out there!"

Maria looked up at the crow's nest when she heard Zoro's voice come over the loudspeaker attached below the lookout point. "Something out there? What does he mean by that?" She got up to her feet and moved down to the main deck to gather her books back together.

"What is it?" Luffy dashed to the left side of the ship.

"Where is it?" Usopp asked, all previous antagonistic feelings forgotten.

"Are you sure?" Sanji moved after them as Maria got up from under the tree and moved over to the left side of the ship, as well, mainly out of curiosity for what it was that Zoro had spotted.

Maria reached the deck railing and frowned at the water before she put a hand above her eyes to block out the sun when she caught sight of something floating in the distance. "Is that some kind of flag or something...?"'

"A barrel?" Chopper asked from the upper deck.

"Is that what it is?" Maria blinked a couple times before narrowing her eyes. Sure enough, the red and black flag she had spotted a minute ago was attached to what appeared to be a barrel.

"Look! It says 'treasure' right on it!" Usopp moved a hand above his eyes so that he could get a better look at what was floating out at sea. ****

"You're right!" Luffy proclaimed. "Maybe it's treasure that fell off a treasure ship?"

"Treasure?" came the resounding response from the others.

"Hey, Luffy, hurry up and pull it up here!" Usopp quickly directed.

"Right!" Luffy gave a nod, then dashed down onto the main deck before moving over to the railing that Maria happened to be standing in front of. She stepped aside so that Luffy had enough room to do his thing.

The captain started swinging his arms. "Okay! Gum Gum...grab!" He launched his arms out towards the barrel and easily grabbed hold before he started dragging it back towards the _Sunny,_ grinning widely.

Maria couldn't help but wonder what sort of barrel needed a flag like that stuck to the top of it.

Luffy was able to get the barrel onto the grassy deck without damaging it, and soon, he, Usopp, and Chopper were dancing around it, singing, "Treasure, treasure, we've discovered a treasure!"

Maria flinched as Robin and Nami came out of the aquarium room, Franky came up from belowdecks, and Zoro climbed down from the crows' nest; Maria wondered if Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy -- or, at least, Luffy -- were tone deaf.

"Sorry," Nami stated, getting the three boys to stop singing. "But it's just alcohol and some food."

"How do you know that if you don't look?" Luffy demanded, frowning at the navigator.

"See how the flag says 'gift to the sea god' on it?" Nami motioned to the red and black, tattered flag that was tied to the top of the barrel. "People send those barrels out to sea when they leave on a voyage as a prayer to the gods for a safe journey."

Maria frowned when she heard that. The way that Nami said "gods"...it didn't sound right to her for some reason.

"The 'treasure' part means 'for the gods'," Nami added.

"What, so it's pointless to have picked it up?" Usopp let out an irritated sigh.

"It's got alcohol in it," Zoro pointed out with a smirk. "Let's have some."

"Idiot!" Usopp glared at the swordsman. "Do you want to get smitten or something?"

"Smitten?" Maria repeated, looking at the sniper.

"Yeah, because he angered the gods." Usopp motioned to the barrel for emphasis. "It's supposed to be _for_ _the gods!_ If _we_ take it, then they'll get mad with us and make us pay for it!"

"If we pray before drinking it, we should be fine," Nami pointed out.

Maria frowned again. She didn't necessarily like how that was sounding for some reason....

"I'm not praying to some god," Zoro commented, coming over to stand near the others.

"Alcohol that's been tossed around by the waves is supposed to be especially delicious." Nami grinned knowingly.

"Then we've gotta try it!" Franky licked his lips before he started towards the barrel.

"Let's have a toast!" Usopp exclaimed, thrusting a fist into an air. Maria was startled by the sudden change in attitude that the sharpshooter was showing; wasn't he against opening the barrel a second ago?

"After we've finished it, we're supposed to refill the barrel and release it again," Robin stated.

"Oi, let's open it!" Franky went over to the barrel and grabbed the top before he started to shake it back and forth -- probably looking for a way to crack the lid open without breaking it.

"Oi, God, we're gonna have some of this!" Luffy yelled up at the sky. He clasped his hands together above his head and grinned widely.

Zoro let out a short laugh. "What 'God'? Aren't you the guy who beat the shit out of 'God' on the Sky Island?"

"That guy only _claimed_ to be called god," Maria spoke up shortly. "Besides, if you don't believe in God, where is it that we came from, _moss-head?"_

Zoro shot Maria a glare while Sanji gained a wide grin when he heard Maria use Zoro's nickname.

"Well, sorry for taking it without permission," Luffy continued, moving over to the barrel and grabbing the rope that was tied over the barrel. He managed to get the knot undone, causing the rope to fall away from the top. "All right! It's open!"

Luffy lifted off the top of the barrel...and it suddenly exploded in a flash of blue light.

Maria reflexively moved a hand over her face. "What in the name of Chaos?!"

"Something flew out!" Usopp yelped over what sounded like a loud whistle.

A loud explosion came from above, and Maria looked up when she heard the noise. Her eyes widened when she saw the large, red orb that was above the ship.

"What the...." Luffy was shading his eyes with one arm, frowning at the sight above them.

"A red light?" Usopp asked, slipping his goggles over his eyes.

"What happened?" Nami asked, voice sounding cautious.

As the light faded, Chopper finally managed to find his voice.

"The drink flew out, lit up, and disappeared!" the reindeer exclaimed.

"It was a flare," Robin commented grimly.

"A flare?" Maria and Nami repeated at once.

Zoro laughed, then said sarcastically, "Maybe it was a curse from that sea god!"

"Don't be ridiculous; sea gods, if they do exist, wouldn't want anything to do with fire-based signals." Maria glared at the swordsman. "If anything, it would have caused a sudden storm over us rather than an explosion like that." She motioned to the clear sky above them.

"If it's simply a prank, then there's no issue," Robin continued. "However...."

"However?!" Usopp and Chopper repeated.

"It's possible that this ship is now being targeted by someone."

Maria stiffened when she heard this. "So, that means it could have been a signal flare?" She looked up at the sky again, nervous.

"You mean that it's some kind of trap?!" Usopp gulped. "By opening that barrel, we told someone where we are?!" He quickly turned to the reindeer. "Chopper, take a look around!"

"Got it!" Chopper scrambled towards the front of the ship, Usopp still yelling after him.

"The bounty hunters might still be after us!" Usopp ran to the back of the ship.

_ "That _ , I doubt," Nami muttered. Maria nodded in agreement.

"I don't see anybody!" Chopper reported from the front.

"I don't see anyone, either!" Usopp reappeared from the back of the ship.

"We really can't see anyone, but...." Nami trailed off, her eyes moving about the water around them. A moment later, her eyes widened, and she dashed up to the rear upper deck. "Everyone, to your positions! We're heading south-southeast! A huge storm's approaching -- we've got five minutes!"

Luffy slammed his straw hat onto his head and started running across the deck. "I can't see anything, but if she says so, it must be true!"

"I'd better get my books back inside, then." Maria dashed under the swing tree and grabbed her books before running up into the girl's quarters.

"Nami, which way?" Luffy called out.

"Two o'clock!"

Maria disappeared into the girl's quarters and dropped her things on her bed, then dashed outside...and was met with dark skies and rain.

"Wow, the weather changed fast," Maria commented.

"Maria, I could use your help over here tying this down!" Usopp called out from the swing tree.

"Coming!" Maria dashed down the stairs and ran over to the tree. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just help me tighten this so that the swing doesn't go crazy and lop somebody's head off or something."

"Okay; got it." Maria grabbed the rope that Usopp held out to her, and she yanked as hard as she could while Usopp pulled on the other end. Then the two worked together to tie it down.

"Damn this rain will be really troublesome," Usopp muttered, glaring up at the sky.

"I hope not," Maria countered, sparing a glance herself. "This'll be my first time out in a storm on a boat without any Pokemon help, and that in and of itself is nerve-racking."

"Well, with Nami giving directions, it shouldn't be--" Usopp let out a yelp of surprise when the sky suddenly flashed bright yellow for a moment, followed closely by low rumbles of thunder that Maria felt down to her bones.

"Well, there goes any chance of this being an easy ride," Maria commented uneasily.

The ship started creaking as Maria and Usopp finished tying down the swing; Maria heard a wave crash into one of the sides, causing the _Sunny_ to rock to one side sharply.

Maria yelped and grabbed hold of the tree. "I hope that not all storms are like this!"

"The weather's supposed to be really unpredictable in the Grand Line!" Usopp responded from where he had been pushed into a corner. "I just hope that this isn't as bad as some of the other storms we've had run-ins with! Entering the Grand Line was a nightmare!"

A wave suddenly sloshed up onto the deck, soaking Maria's shoes and jeans up to her knees before receding. Instinctively, she tried to bring out her fire to dry herself off, but she only managed to produce a cloud of smoke for a moment.

"Looks like I'll have to hold off drying off until later," Maria muttered, frowning.

"Hey, you guys don't really think that this is all the ship can do, do you?" Franky suddenly called out.

"Everyone, raise the sails!" Nami called out. "We'll use the paddles!"

"That?!" Usopp called out from where he had been backed into a corner.

Luffy let out a laugh. "I like that thing! It's so cool! Do it!"

Maria decided that she wasn't going to just stay gripping the swing tree forever; she ran over to one of the ropes that was connected to the sails and, grabbing hold of it, started to pull as best she could. However, considering the fact that there was a strong wind, it was a bit difficult for her to get very far.

"Hang on, lil sis. I gotcha." Franky's arms appeared out of nowhere on either side of Maria, and the two started to pull at once on the sail.

"Thanks, Franky!" Maria grinned up at the cyborg.

"No problem. I'll take care of tying this down, kay?"

"Sure." Maria slipped out from under Franky's arms and ran back to where the swing tree was, if only to make sure that she actually had something to hold onto.

"Is everything ready?" Nami called from the upper deck.

"The main is okay, Nami-san!" Sanji called back as he finished tying down the section of the sail he had been pulling on.

"The sails have been raised to the mast!" Zoro added, coming down from the top of the mast.

"Franky, go ahead!"

"Got it, Nami!" Franky had somehow managed to make it to the helm. "Soldier Dock System Channel Zero!"

"Cola Engine Sunny!" Nami called out as the aforementioned paddles came out either side of the ship.

"Go!" Usopp added.

The ship suddenly rocketed forward, despite the wind that everyone was getting in their faces.

"Go!" Luffy declared, laughing in delight.

Maria grinned as the _Sunny_ made it through the waves and the wind with minimal resistance, and they soon reached a portion of the sea that was a _lot_ more calm than where they had been a moment ago. The crew quickly took the sails down and retracted the paddles before pausing to have a look around.

"Well, we made it out of there," Nami commented, glancing back at the rough sea that they had just escaped from a moment ago.

Maria nodded in agreement, flames and smoke flickering in and out of existence on her arms and legs. It would be slow going, drying herself off, but at least she had a start at it now that she wasn't about to get any more wet.

"That's good, but...." Zoro looked around at the new stretch of sea. "What's with this place? It's not even night, and yet...." He looked away from the darkness ahead of them. "It's not night, but the fog's making it look like it is."

Maria frowned. "Maybe it's another one of those freaky Grand Line weather patterns?"

"Maybe," Usopp offered somewhat nervously.

"Or maybe we're in _that_ part of the ocean?" Nami suggested, coming over to the trio. She gained a nervous expression. "We're not ready for this!"

Usopp brightened instantly. "Oh! We're at Fishman Island already?"

Luffy leaned over the railing and grinned sinisterly at Usopp. "Nope! Before that, it's the ghost sea!"

"Right," Franky agreed. "Don't let your guard down. This part of the ocean is most definitely the infamous...Florian Triangle! The outrageous sea where everything mysteriously disappears!"

Maria blinked a couple of times, then remembered what the crew had been told before they had left Water 7. "Oh, yeah, that's right...I nearly forgot about that!"

Usopp started shivering uncontrollably, and he turned and looked at Luffy. "G-g-g-ghosts?"

Luffy gave a sinister sounding laugh that actually managed to send chills down Maria's spine. "Yeah, there's ghosts in this ocean!"

"You're lying!" Usopp pointed at the others accusingly. "If everyone else on this ship knows what it is, why don't I?!"

"Monster Granny told us," Luffy responded, laughing at Usopp's reaction. "There's even living skeletons!"

"L-living skeletons?!" Usopp turned slowly to look at Luffy in alarm.

"I wouldn't know about _that_ part of the tale," Maria commented, looking over at her captain. "I'd think that it'd be more likely that we'll find the rotting _remains_ of people, but I doubt they'll still be able to move around."

"It's just your imagination," Sanji agreed, lighting a match so that he could light his cigarette. "Stop scaring him with it. Here's the truth, Usopp. Every year in this ocean, many ships disappear without a trace. They say there's ghost ships filled with the dead that wander--"

Usopp let out a yell of terror and covered his ears. "No way! You guys need to tell me this ahead of time!"

"How would that have helped?" Sanji countered, looking over at Usopp. Maria couldn't help but shudder a little; with a flickering flame underneath his face like that, the cook looked _scary._

"Besides, we kinda got caught up in that bounty hunter business with the icebergs," Maria pointed out as best she could, holding down the trembling in her voice. She had faced Ghost-Types before; there's no reason for her to be scared of the cook or a short stretch of sea.

"I could have prepared!" Usopp countered, looking frantically around the deck. "I could have packed some things that drive away ghosts! L-l-like what exorcists have!"

"Usopp, I need some, too!" Chopper yelped suddenly, sounding panicked.

Maria blinked for a moment, considering that. A frown came over her face. "From what I can remember, I ended up picking up a _lot_ of items from back when I was a Pokemon Trainer. Maybe, like with the Berries, I can pull a few out of thin air and give them to you guys."

"Could you do that?" Usopp looked at Maria hopefully.

"I'll have to see what I can do. I mean, I haven't pulled out anything since before we ran into those bounty hunters. Maybe if I concentrate on them, they'll--"

_ Yohohoho.... _

Everyone on the deck froze as a strange, almost haunting voice was suddenly carried on the winds into everyone's ears.

Chopper instantly latched onto Usopp's leg as the sniper started to look around frantically. "What the...wh-what's that voice?"

_ Yohohoho..... _

Maria shifted her stance a little bit into something a bit more defensive; she brought out her phoenix-topped staff -- an act she hadn't actually done for a while -- and she started to look around the dark, foggy area. "Sounds kinda like a tuneless song or something."

_ Yohohoho..... _

"But...who's singing it?"

Usopp suddenly let out a scream. "THERE IT IS!!!!"

Everyone turned their heads to follow Usopp's pointing finger at the whatever-it-was that happened to be behind them. Maria pulled her head back as she looked up at what appeared to be tattered, old sails....

The reality of the situation hit Maria the same time that it hit everyone else.

"A GHOST SHIP!!!" everyone exclaimed at once. Although, Maria more _said_ it out of awe than yelled it...and Robin actually said nothing at all.

_ Yohohoho.... _

Maria's mind instantly went to the many times that she had entered into graveyards during the time that she had wandered around with the monsters that could control elements without the need of Devil Fruits. She clearly remembered people handing her small tags that could keep Ghost-Types away, but what were they--

_ Oh, yeah! The Cleanse Tag! _

_ Yohohoho..... _

The problem was, though, that she didn't know how exactly to bring it out...and Maria was kind of preoccupied with the fact that the ghost ship _was_ coming up right alongside them. It certainly _looked_ like a ghost ship -- the wood looked like it had seen better days; the sails were all in tatters...and there wasn't anyone on the main deck, either.

_ Yohohoho.... _

"What's with this song?!" Nami choked out.

"It's the evil spirit's song!" Usopp wailed. "Don't listen to it! If you do, you'll be cursed!"

"I doubt it," Maria stated, frowning. "From what I'm familiar with, songs that are meant to curse usually sound _really_ off-key -- enough to make your teeth grind from just the noise of it."

_ Yohohoho.... _

"If anything, this could be more along the lines of a hypnosis type of thing, but I haven't heard of it being activated by a _song_ before...."

"If a ghost tries to talk to you, don't let him!" Usopp added, obviously not having heard what it was that Maria had just said. "If you do, he'll drag you out to sea! Evil spirits are always trying to make you come to them!"

"And that's a bunch of mumbo-jumbo," Maria muttered, shaking her head at the sniper. "Ghost-Types are pranksters, sure, but they're not inherently _evil._ "

"You seem unnaturally calm," Robin commented, looking over at Maria critically.

"I've run into Pokemon that are Ghosts, and I've been in their territory as a result." Maria gave a slight shrug as she looked at the archeologist. "If anything, I'm curious right now for some reason more than anything else."

_ Yohohoho.... _

"Is there someone _on_ this ship?" Robin asked, frowning.

_ Yohohoho.... _

Zoro gripped one of his swords and smirked. "If it's an enemy, I'll take him down."

"If it actually _is_ a ghost, your swords are gonna do zilch," Maria pointed out. "It'll be like cutting through this fog; it's just gonna reform."

"And you know this how?" Zoro sent Maria a dark look.

"Long story short, never try to throw a spike made of iron at a being made of gas; it's just gonna go right through." The teenager shrugged.

"There's something there," Sanji muttered.

Maria looked up at the ship again, frowning. It took her a moment to find the figure in the darkness.

"Is that...a skeleton with a teacup gripped in one hand?" Maria asked quietly, frowning.

And then the unthinkable happened.

" _Gather up a rowdy crew...It's time to ship out Binks' brew...."_ The skeleton lifted up the chipped cup it was holding and actually _sipped_ out of it before lowering the cup. Maria's jaw dropped at the sight.

_ "Yohohoho...." _

The ghost ship moved in front of the _Sunny_ and started to move out of sight, leaving the entirety of the Straw Hat crew gobsmacked.

Luffy was the first to recover. "D-did you guys see that just now?" He looked at the others, an excited expression crossing his face. "The skeleton was singing!"

Usopp and Chopper instantly looked panicked.

"Idiot!" Usopp yelped. "Skeletons don't sing! It was a spirit! A spirit!"

"Unless it was an illusion of some kind," Maria commented, frowning. "That kind of thing does happen occasionally." She felt something tickle her right wrist, and she looked over at her phoenix staff...only to see it completely covered in strange tags covered in symbols. "Well, whaddaya know? There are all my Cleanse Tags. Chopper, Usopp -- you guys can have some of these, but don't take them all -- I happen to like having one or two on hand."

The sniper and the reindeer instantly pounced on their new distraction and each grabbed three Cleanse Tags, leaving behind two. Chopper was quick to hang all three on his antlers while Usopp tied two around his wrists, putting the third one on his nose as an extra precaution.

Maria sighed and shook her head at the two of them before moving closer to the railing. Maybe she could get a second look at that skeleton....

"But you heard it, right?" Luffy looked over at Sanji, then turned to look at Zoro. "Hey, let's go over there right now! There was a living skeleton on that ship!" He started running, but Sanji grabbed him by the back of his vest.

"Hang on a second." Sanji pulled the cigarette out of his mouth with a free hand. "Don't rush, Luffy."

Zoro pulled out a fistful of what looked like popsicle sticks, and he held them out at arm's length. "Well, we'll decide who is going over with Luffy onto the ship by who gets the short end of the stick."

Usopp, Chopper, and Nami instantly protested.

"Why?!" Usopp jammed his nose up against Zoro's face. "He's fine with the guys who want to go!"

"That's right! Let them do it!" Nami declared.

"Let them do it!" Chopper parroted, climbing onto Zoro's shoulders.

Zoro let out a sigh of annoyance. "Is that _really_ okay with you three?"

Maria moved her gaze from the four of them to the crew members who had gotten up on the railing in the meantime: Robin, Luffy, Sanji, and Franky.

"Maria, you coming, too?" Luffy asked, getting down in a crouch.

"Yeah, but I'm not too sure as how I might be able to get over there." Maria shrugged. "I don't think that my legs are strong enough to let me jump the gap between our ships."

"I could get you over no problem." Luffy gave a wide grin.

"Thanks, I'd appreciate it." Maria grinned back.

The interaction got panicked screams from Usopp, Nami, and Chopper. Even more so, even, when Zoro started moving towards the others. All three of them grabbed him around his waist in an attempt to slow him down, but that didn't seem to do anything.

"You know, I would be fine going all by myself," Luffy commented as Zoro came over. "If we don't hurry with this thing, then the ship will leave!"

"That's right, and then you won't be able to go," Sanji responded, arms crossed over his chest.

"All of you, pick one," Zoro stated, looking impatient. "Three of us will go with Luffy to make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid."

Nami, Usopp, and Chopper gulped while the others exchanged disappointed glances.

"All right, Zoro," Franky grumbled. "If you say so." He jumped off the railing and grabbed one of the sticks, yanking it out of Zoro's grip. The others on the railing soon followed suit.

"Looks like I'm going," Sanji commented, holding up his stick. There was a bit of red paint on the end of it.

Maria frowned slightly. "Let's see if I'll be going...I'm kind of wondering if there are any Ghost-Type Pokemon on the ship...." She reached out and grabbed hold of one of the sticks in Zoro's fist and yanked it out before Zoro turned his attention to the three sniffling crew members sitting dejectedly around his feet, who each took one.

Maria watched for a moment as the three pulled out their own sticks, then looked down at the one that she had managed to get her hands on. A smirk followed a moment later when she saw that she had managed to grab a stick that did indeed have a splotch of red at the bottom of it. "Looks like I'm going, too."

Nami let out a whimper.

"And that's three," Zoro stated calmly. He collected the sticks from everyone and hid them again on his person; Maria hoped that he actually had a pocket for the sticks. "All right, Luffy. Take 'em and go have a look on the ghost ship."

"All right!" Luffy gave a large grin.

"I'll go get the rowboat I've got stored belowdecks." Franky gave a smirk. "Just give me a minute, and you guys can head over and check it out, kay?"

Maria gave a nod. "Sure, no problem."

** Time Break **

"Why are we going?" Nami whimpered, kneeling in the rowboat that Franky had pulled out of practically nowhere. "I'm going back!"

"Come on, Nami, you can't be _that_ scared," Maria commented, looking over at the navigator. She pulled herself up and completely left the rowboat. "You've faced worse things, and if push comes to shove, I can probably burn it to bits if this skeleton -- or whatever it is -- tries anything."

"Come on!" Luffy cried from further up. "Hurry and climb up!"

"I told you I'm all right down here!" Nami barked back up at their captain, angered.

"No!" Sanji looked down from his position above Maria. "If we let you do that, you'd probably do something stupid and get us all cursed!"

"If there really is a ghost and not a Ghost _Pokemon,"_ Maria pointed out. She started climbing up again, eyeing the edge of the ghost ship's deck further up. She had let her staff dissipate so that she could have both hands free, and had decided to tie the Cleanse Tags around her right arm in case Nami wanted one. The navigator hadn't asked yet, but Maria got the feeling that she might if they ran into something on the deck that spooked her.

Maria felt the rope ladder rung below her feet shift as Nami muttered, "I have terrible luck."

"Nami-swan, Maria-san! Don't worry, I'll protect you!"

Maria rolled her eyes as Sanji's comment, pausing for a moment to adjust her grip on the ropes before continuing on.

"Even if you say so...." Nami sniffled from below Maria.

"Nami, didn't you say that you wanted a treasure ship?" Luffy called down.

"This isn't a treasure ship! You saw it, didn't you? That moving skeleton?"

"Well, what did you expect a treasure ship to look like?" Maria asked off-handedly.

"He's the guard," Luffy stated, smirking. "If we find him, then we can get to the treasure!"

Maria frowned at this, wondering what exactly it was that Luffy was getting at. She started climbing the rope ladder again, and when she heard Nami grunting behind her, Maria realized that Luffy was trying to trick his scared navigator into coming up.

A pretty good trick, considering that Nami was now climbing without a noise of complaint. So Maria turned her attention to Sanji and Luffy instead, so that she wouldn't end up bumping into them by accident.

And it was because she was watching where she was going that she managed to catch sight of a certain skeleton standing near the deck railing, looking down at them with its empty eye sockets.

"That wasn't there a minute ago...." Maria frowned.

Nami let out a scream of terror, getting Maria to stiffen up in surprise.

"Nami, don't _do_ that!" Maria yelped, looking down at the navigator. "You almost made me fall off!" When she looked back at the top of the ladder, however, she blinked a couple times when she saw that the skeleton was gone. "Well, that's weird."

Luffy scrambled up onto the deck with the ease of an agile monkey -- Maria smirked at the mental picture -- and the others followed suit. When they got up onto the deck of the ghost ship, however (and Nami was cowering behind Maria and Sanji), they were met with a bit of an unusual sight.

"How do you do? Yohohoho!" The _moving, talking skeleton_ lifted the top hat off the top of his _afro_ in greeting. "I'm so sorry about earlier, I was unable to greet you properly! I was surprised -- it's been so many years since I've seen actual people!"

Maria felt gobsmacked. The _skeleton_ was _talking,_ and there was _no sign whatsoever_ of anything that might hint at the presence of a gas-like creature.

"All I ever see is ghost ship after ghost ship.... It's terrifying!" The skeleton shuddered, making a rattling noise from all of its bones.

Well, all of _his_ bones, considering the tone of voice that the skeleton had.

"Well, make yourselves at home and come inside. We'll be able to talk while we're relaxing."

"He's talking!" Luffy exclaimed, grinning. "He's got an _afro_ and he's _talking!"_

"Unbelievable," Sanji commented.

"You can say that again," Maria remarked. "I thought for sure there were going to be some Pokemon around here, but I guess there aren't any." She sighed and shook her head.

"Oh! Young ladies, you two are certainly a sight to behold! Beautiful!"

Maria looked over at the skeleton again as it -- er, _he_ \-- started to move towards them, stopping after taking a few steps.

Nami made a panicked noise at the sight of the skeleton moving. "Oh n-no, I'm not--"

"I only have eyes for beautiful ladies," the skeleton continued.

Maria stiffened a little when she heard that, and she looked over at Sanji, who looked like he was about to blow a gasket at what the skeleton was saying. _Sounds like we've got another guy crazy for ladies. Great._

"Although as a skeleton, I have no eyes! Yohohohoho!"

The skeleton started moving, putting aside the shipped teacup and the purple cane that had been hanging from one of his arms. He pulled a handkerchief seemingly out of nowhere before he reached down and polished his shoes for a moment.

Maria raised an eyebrow at the action. Did he _really_ think that was going to make him look his best? Considering the fact that he was a _skeleton?_

The skeleton moved a little closer to the two girls; Nami moved to hide behind Maria. "Could you two please show me your panties?"

The question left Maria speechless in shock and surprise. Nami, on the other hand....

"Why would I?!" Nami kicked out with a foot and whacked the skeleton in the head.

"Yohohoho! How harsh!" The skeleton fell to the deck, a large bump seeming to have formed on one side of his head.

Maria quickly recovered from the sight, shaking her head to clear out the cobwebs. "What kind of person would ask to see my _underwear?_ Um, eww."

"I'm afraid you caused my skin to fall right off!" the skeleton exclaimed from where it lay. "Although, I was already a skeleton."

"Shut up!" Nami barked.

It was at this point that Luffy decided to burst out laughing.

"How come this skeleton is a simpleton?" Sanji asked, looking somewhat lost for words.

Maria sighed and shook her head.

"Hey, can you poop?"

Maria shot Luffy a look. "Luffy! That's kinda private!"

"And there are a lot more important questions than that!" Sanji barked at his captain.

The skeleton suddenly rose to his feet and walked over to the barrel that he had placed his cup and purple cane on. When he had picked them up, he returned to where he had been standing a moment ago and stated, "Yes, I can."

"Don't answer him!" Sanji roared.

Maria committed a facepalm and shook her head. "You guys are giving me a headache...."

"I've got some questions, too," Sanji continued, pointing at the skeleton. "First, if you're just a skeleton, how can you be alive and talking?! Who are you? Why are you here? What happened to this ship? What kinds of things happen in this sea? I want those questions answered now!"

"Hang on a sec." Luffy moved past Nami, Maria, and Sanji, then stood in front of the trio. "I've got a question, too."'

"It had better not be one that leads to what exactly he can do even without his internal organs," Maria muttered, rubbing her forehead in an attempt to dispel the headache that was coming on.

"Join our crew!"

That was the _last_ thing that Maria was expecting to come out of her captain's mouth. She shot him a look of shock while Sanji and Nami jumped in front of him, looks of disbelief on their faces.

"Oh? All right."

Maria looked at the skeleton in surprise as Sanji and Nami gained looks of shock and fear. Then she looked over at Luffy. "You can't be serious."

Luffy laughed. "Course I'm serious. Come on -- let's get back to the _Sunny_ and introduce him to everyone!"


	2. Skull Jokes and Stolen Shadows

"Yohohohohoho! It's such a pleasure to meet you! Hello and good day to you all! As of today, I will be joining you on this ship as your newest crew member! Once dead and all bones, my name is Brook and I do hope we can get along!"

"Are you kidding me? What the heck is this thing?"

Maria sighed at Franky's, Usopp's, and Zoro's reactions, noting that Usopp and Chopper had managed to grab a pair of crosses and were holding them in front of themselves. Like that was going to be able to do anything in their present situation.

"Yohohohoho! My, my, what a tough crowd you all are!"

Luffy snickered while Nami and Sanji sighed dejectedly.

"Please don't haunt me!" Chopper whimpered behind his cross.

"I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon...." Maria muttered under her breath.

"My goodness, what a lovely young woman!" Brook turned his attention to Robin; Maria eyed the two of them and suspected that she knew what exactly was coming. "Perhaps you'd like to show my your panties?"

"That's enough sexual harassment!" Nami threw one of her shoes and beaned the skeleton in the side of the head...not that it would have done any damage, considering that Brook had a _large_ afro.

Maria let out a groan as quick flashes of her interactions with Ghost-Types went through her head. She was used to dealing with things that could technically be called "supernatural," but it didn't exactly help that there was a skeleton with no proof of being possessed by a Ghost-Type standing right there on the ship.

Chopper suddenly let out an excited noise. "It's a full set of anti-ghost gear! You've got him, now!"

Maria looked over in the direction of the reindeer, and caught sight of Usopp standing there with garlic wrapped around his neck and what looked like a banner of some kind attached to his back. As the sniper started forward, Maria intercepted him.

"Usopp, I don't think that's going to help," Maria stated, frowning at him. She held up her right wrist, where the Cleanse Tags were still tied. "If these aren't going to drive him away, then he's not a ghost."

"Maybe they're not strong enough!" Usopp protested.

"I picked these up in _graveyards_ where ghosts were avoiding these things like you tend to try and avoid trouble." Maria lowered her arm. "All that stuff isn't going to work on Brook."

Brook yelped. "Are you saying that a g-g-ghost followed me on board?!"

"It's you, stupid!" Usopp and Chopper responded at once, pointing their crosses at Brook. This resulted in a girlish squeal from the skeleton and another facepalm from Maria.

Luffy started laughing again.

"Damnit, there's no way that a walking, talking, afro-sporting skeleton could exist!" Usopp declared shortly, glaring at Brook. "This must be a dream! We just need to wake up!"

"Keep telling yourself that," Maria muttered, sighing.

"Oh, it's a dream?" Chopper let out a sigh. "What a relief!" He fell back onto the grass, looking strangely relaxed.

"Uh...excuse me? Hello?" Brook moved over Chopper, speaking softly. "Hello? Good morning?"

Chopper opened his eyes and let out a scream of terror at the sight of Brook standing over the little reindeer.

Maria snorted. "Okay, now _that_ was funny. I could see you pulling a lot of pranks by doing that, Brook."

"Yohohoho! An interesting idea!"

Chopper continued to scream.

"That's enough!" Zoro roared. He turned and glared at Luffy. "What is this thing and why is it on our ship?"

"That's a new member of our crew!" Luffy responded, grinning. "Isn't he funny?"

"Who cares?! He's _not_ joining our crew!" Zoro turned sharply to look at Nami, Sanji, and Maria. "This is _exactly_ why I wanted you to go with him! What the hell happened?! Were you just picking your noses while he brought a skeleton back to the ship?!"

"I know, we messed up," Nami and Sanji muttered.

"Do you _really_ expect us to be able to stop Luffy?" Maria retorted, shrugging. "You didn't have this much of a problem when I joined up."

"Because you came to us asking for help and looking like a _regular human,"_ Zoro hissed. "I'm not expecting you to be actually crazy like people that Luffy usually tries to pick up!"

"Yohohohoho! Now, now, let's be civil, everyone." Brook moved across the lawn and turned when he stood next to Luffy. "Why don't we go inside? You can treat me to dinner!"

"You don't get to decide that!" Zoro, Nami, and Sanji yelled at the ghost.

Luffy laughed. "I love this guy!"

"That may be, but I don't think most of us do," Maria commented in reply, sighing and shaking her head.

**Time Break**

"Yohohohohoho! My, what a spacious dining room you have!" Brook looked around the galley with what sounded like awe in his voice. "And what a splendid kitchen! A magnificent ship if I've ever seen one! Yohohohoho!"

"Yup!" Luffy grinned widely.

"Of course it is," Franky commented from where he sat next to Maria at the counter. "It's the most super ship I've ever made. Those sockets look empty, but you've got a good eye for quality!"

"Franky, don't get friendly with the skeleton," Sanji said from where he stood near the stove, not even bothering to look up from his cooking.

"Speaking of quality, I can't wait to try out your cooking," Brook continued. "Since I was stuck on that dreary ghost ship, it's been decades since I've eaten a proper meal!" He collapsed onto the table. "My stomach shrank and shrank until I couldn't even tell the back of my belly from the front of my back anymore. That was the sort of miserable life I led."

"Considering that you're still alive...." Maria muttered.

Brook sat up again and pulled back his jacket, revealing his ribs. "And let me tell you, that's saying a lot since skeletons don't even have a proper back _or_ stomach! Yohohohoho!"

Luffy snickered while Maria groaned and put her head in her hands at the bad joke that had just been made.

"It's a skull joke!" Brook exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.

Luffy laughed loudly. "Skull joke! I get it!" He clapped his hands above his head, grinning widely.

Maria ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "Well then. Can't say that I've heard a joke like _that_ before."

"And I hope I won't hear it all that often," she added under her breath. "Bad puns...."

"Let me say, I am quite the gentleman," Brook continued, messing with the strange, intricately tied knot of blue fabric around his neck. "So I am well-versed in the art of waiting patiently for my food, no matter how long it takes."

The skeleton instantly took up his fork and knife and started slamming them together, chanting "Food!" in time with Luffy.

"You call _that_ being well-versed?!" Maria demanded, looking over at Sanji while she motioned to the skeleton. The cook didn't so much as glance over in her direction, and the teenager wondered if he had managed to block everything out.

"My dear boy, can I have a glass of milk? It's good for the bones, they say!"

"Shut up or I'm gonna smash your skull!" Sanji barked.

Guess the cook didn't have his ears plugged.

"Oh, by the way, skeleton--"

"Sorry," Brook interrupted Luffy. "My name is _Brook._ Ah, that reminds me. I know this is rude, but I don't believe I ever caught _your_ name."

"Oh? Well, my name's Luffy. So, as I was saying, what are you?"

"You invited him to join the crew and you just now ask him that?!" Zoro demanded from his seat next to Luffy.

"Okay, food's ready! Franky, help me get this stuff onto the table, would you?" Sanji stepped around the counter, balancing a bunch of delicacies on his arms.

"Yeah, sure." Frank hopped over the counter and grabbed the rest of the dishes Sanji had prepared before following the cook over to the table and helping him set everything out.

Maria licked her lips and snagged an empty plate. She couldn't wait to try whatever it was that Sanji had managed to cook up.

"We can finish interrogating the skeleton later. For now, let's put all those octopi you caught to good use!"

"This is going to be a good meal," Maria commented, grinning. She quickly leapt for the table and piled her plate high with the seafood dishes before retreating to the counter again to eat.

"Go ahead and eat all of this if you want, Brook!" Luffy told the skeleton. "Sanji's cooking is the best in the whole world!"

"Even though my stomach is empty, I think my heart...has already been filled." Brook moved his skeletal hands over his skeletal face and wept for a moment.

"Don't cry," Sanji muttered.

Brook picked up his fork and knife again and turned to look at Robin. "I couldn't help but notice your portions a bit large. Would you be interested in switching plates?"

"You can have seconds!" Sanji barked. "Just leave her alone!"

And with that, everyone started digging into the meal. Maria would glance over occasionally from her dinner, wondering _why_ the skeleton had turned out to be a more polite version of Luffy.

Or that he could translate what it was that Luffy was saying when he had food in his mouth, for that matter.

"You have a fish tank with octopus on your ship?" Brook repeated, sounding surprised. "Truly, the wonders never cease with you people! How splendid!"

Luffy started talking again; at the same time, Maria made it a point to finish off her plate and dash over to the table again for seconds before returning to her seat.

"I've never heard of anything like it!" Brook exclaimed. This time, Maria had been able to translate what it was that Luffy was saying -- he had been talking about the fact that the ship could fly and do other stuff like that. "How fortunate that I met with such a fascinating ship!"

"If you're that interested, we could show you," Luffy suggested through his full mouth.

"Yoho!" Brook nodded. "By all means, right after dinner!" The two slammed their forks together in what Maria suspected was meant to be a toast.

"Gonna see the ship! Yeah! Gonna see the ship!" Brook somehow managed to chant in time with Luffy's mumbling.

"Would you shut up and eat?!" Sanji yelled at the two of them, getting the chanting to stop short.

It didn't take too long for the table to get cleared off. Maria had only gone up for two helpings because her stomach wasn't as large as her captain's -- or the skeleton's, apparently.

Speak of the skeleton....

"The Revive Revive Fruit?" Nami repeated, curious.

"So it was a Devil Fruit after all," Franky muttered.

"It's a complicated tale," Brook admitted, looking at the others sitting around him.

Maria frowned disapprovingly at all the crumbs that were stuck in the skeleton's afro and scattered around his face. Couldn't he have eaten a little more like an actual gentleman?

"The truth of the matter is I actually _did_ die already, many years ago," the skeleton continued.

"Could you clean off your damn face?" Sanji spoke up, voicing Maria's question before she could. "I've never seen such a messy eater."

Brook complied easily, pulling a handkerchief seemingly out of nowhere before he wiped off his face and picked every single crumb out of his hair. It took a few minutes, considering that the afro was so _large_ , but if it meant that the skeleton wasn't going to look so dirty anymore, the wait was worth it.

The skeleton put his handkerchief on the table, then picked up a toothpick.

"The Revive Revive fruit--" Brook paused to pick at his teeth with the toothpick. "--allows a person to come back to life after being killed." He picked at his teeth again, then added, "Even among Devil Fruit powers, the ability to live two lives is indeed quite strange."

"So you're a Revive Man!" Luffy exclaimed.

Maria flinched when she got the mental picture of what looked like a person with rotting flesh at the back of her head. Only...the rotting flesh seemed to shine with an almost metallic quality.

She shook her head. _There's no way I could have run into something like_ that _in the past._

"Then you're not immortal," Franky noted. "It's more like you died once and it gave you a second chance at life."

"In short, yes, but -- ah, excuse me." Brook opened his mouth and burped, then continued speaking. "As I said, it's complicated, but during my first life, if you will, I was a pirate, just like you."

"That explains the ship," Luffy commented.

"That it does." It sounded to Maria like Brook should have been smiling at that point, but he didn't necessarily have any way to show that, since he was only a skeleton at this point. "Excuse me again."

This time, the noise came out Brook's _other_ end.

"I'm gonna beat some manners into you if I have to break every single one of your bones," Sanji muttered.

"At least he said 'excuse me,'" Maria commented in reply, looking at the skeleton. "Although, I didn't think that a skeleton _could_ make that noise...."

Brook cleared his throat. "A long time ago, I was sailing with the rest of my crew through these accursed waters. Now, for the record, I had flesh and blood like anyone else back then."

 _Like I'd expect anything less,_ Maria thought, nodding slightly.

"At any rate, we had the misfortune of running afowl of a very powerful adversary. Soon, the entire crew met its demise -- of course, that included me, as well.

"When I was alive, the Revive Revive fruit did precious little but robbed my of my ability to swim. But on that fateful day, it's true power awakened as I lay dead! My spirit returned from the nether world, and came to reunite with this body of mine once again."

Brook paused for a moment, as though to gather his thoughts.

"Now, if it had actually _found_ my body as intended, that would all be well and good. But, as you can see, the fog around here is quite thick, so the matter became a bit...complicated. In short, poor little soul Brook wouldn't find his way back home. All in all, my spirit wandered through the foggy waters, searching for my body for an entire _year._ Then, at the end of its tragic journey, the two were reunited once again!

"Much to my soul's dismay, by the time it found my body, there was nothing left but a miserable pile of bones! I was so shocked my eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Not that I have eyes to begin with! Yohohohoho!"

Maria blinked a couple times, taking Brook's story in. It seemed a little bit far-fetched, but...well, with the talking skeleton right in front of them, there really wasn't much that could have suggested anything otherwise.

"So you got lost, huh?" Luffy asked. "So you're stupid, just like Zoro!"

"Hey, now!" Zoro barked, frowning at Luffy as he laughed. Maria couldn't help but smirk at the comparison that had been made.

"And so a walkin', talkin' skeleton was born," Franky commented. "Man, those Devil Fruit powers can be scary sometimes! Even though you're just bones, it still brought you back to life!"

"Yeah, but it only does it once, despite the fact that he still can't swim and he's stuck like this," Sanji commented. "Seems kind of like a crappy deal if you ask me."

"Skeletons aren't supposed to have hair, are they?" Zoro asked cautiously. "Especially not so much of it. Is that afro a wig or something?"

Brook reached up for the mass of black hair that was on top of his skull. "No, my roots are just very strong."

"...I'll take your word for it."

"So that means you're not actually a ghost after all?" Usopp shoved his golden cross in Brook's face. "You're just a normal human like us?" His eyes narrowed. "Well, normal is a stretch, I suppose, but...the important thing is that you're definitely not a ghost."

Brook shuddered. "Oh, heavens, no! I hate ghosts! If I saw one, I'd scream my lungs out if I had any."

Chopper let out a sigh of relief, but Maria frowned at the statement. And apparently, she wasn't the only one who found it weird, either.

"You're a skeleton and you're afraid of ghosts?" Nami held up a pink hand mirror. "Have you tried looking in the mirror lately?"

Brook let out a shriek and held his hands in front of his face. "No mirrors!"

Usopp slipped over, curious, but no longer really terrified of the skeleton. "What's wrong?" His eyes widened a moment later in alarm. "Hey! Hold up! What's going on, here?"

"What is it?" Maria moved away from the counter and started toward Brook and Usopp so that she could see what it was that they were seeing.

Chopper appeared from behind Brook, gripping one of the skeleton's pants legs with his hooves. "No...why..."

"Why can't we see you?" Usopp and Chopper asked at once. "Why don't you show up in the mirror?!"

 _That_ question caused Maria to dash over so that she could have a look herself. "Whoa! Man, that's really weird." She blinked a couple times as she stood behind Brook, wondering how in the world a skeleton could manage to be unseeable in a mirror. "It's almost like he's not really there."

Nami and the others suddenly jumped away from the skeleton, Chopper and Usopp holding up their crosses protectively in front of them as Nami, Usopp, and Chopper yelled, "A vampire!"

The exclamation caused Maria to jump back herself, an expression of apprehension and curiosity coming over her face.

**Maria's POV**

A vampire? I think I heard about those from somewhere, but I'm not exactly sure as to where. Doesn't that usually mean that someone with that title likes to drink blood? A lot? But those are only supposed to exist in fairy tales...aren't they?

And I thought it was weird that a skeleton could move around on its own because of a Devil Fruit ability.

"Are you for real?!" Luffy demanded, looking at Brook with wide eyes. "That's awesome!"

"L-look at his feet!" Usopp yelped. "He doesn't even have a shadow!"

No shadow? What--

I looked down for myself at the planks under Brook's feet, and my eyes widened significantly when I saw that there was now dark splotch of shade underneath the skeleton. I probably went a little pale at the sight.

Chopper squealed. "Yeah! You're right! What kind of creature are you?!"

I backed up a little bit when Brook started moving again, but relaxed only slightly when the skeleton sat down. Something about all this wasn't right....

I felt a prickling sensation at the back of my neck, and it was instantly followed by a _major_ headache.

**Memory Break**

_"Okay, that's kinda freaky." I motioned to the screen that was in front of me before gripping the controller in my hands again._

_"Freaky?" The voice was familiar, but the face of the person speaking was strangely blurred, so I couldn't tell who was speaking. "Freaky how?"_

_"Those things look like they're made of shadows or something. I wouldn't want to see one of_ them _in a dark alley -- or anywhere, for that matter." I started mashing buttons._

_"Well, I can agree to that, I guess." The voice sounded amused, somehow...._

**Memory Break**

I blinked as my vision cleared up. That...wasn't like the other memories that I had managed to reclaim already. Where was that? And what kind of technology was I messing with? It definitely didn't look like anything Usopp had managed to cook up....

"You'd better explain yourself right away, mister!" Usopp ordered, holding his cross in front of him.

Brook paused, holding the chipped teacup from his ship in one of his skeletal hands. He must have picked it up when I was having that memory come back. "I suppose I should tell you the rest of my story -- about what happened while I was drifting in this evil sea, and the second tragedy I was forced to face."

Second tragedy? I looked at Book in confusion. Did this have something to do with the fact that his shadow was missing?

"What I told you about becoming a skeleton _is_ true, but the reason that I don't have a shadow is a different matter entirely....To be continued."

Wait, what?

"How about you tell us now?" Sanji barked at him.

Oi...does this skeleton have anything against telling this to us straight?

"My shadow was stolen," Brook admitted. "Someone took it from me several years ago."

"Stolen?" Usopp and I repeated at once.

"But how?" Robin murmured, frowning slightly.

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you'd kinda think that it would be hard to remove something that can't be grabbed." I looked down at my own shadow and got a minor tremor of a headache -- something about a boy wearing green leaves and spending most of his days with a little yellow fairy that spoke in bells and a group of orphaned boys.

"I guess that's not anymore ridiculous than a talking skeleton," Zoro commented. "But it's still hard to swallow. Can something like that really happen?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it can," Brook replied. "And in addition to losing my reflection, having my shadow stolen means that I can no longer exist in the world of light."

Not exist in the world of light? I blinked a couple times as I thought this through. Considering that he didn't look like he had changed at all when he came in here, I guess the artificial kind of light doesn't do anything against him. Still....

"But...you're still alive, right?" Luffy pointed out.

"Yes -- for now, at least. But only because I'm able to stay in this place with no sunlight. Although you can scarcely call it living." Brook sounded a little disgusted. I would be, too, if I had to float around in this place for who-knows-how-long he's had his second life.

"I am saved by the grace of the thick fog that surrounds these seas," Brook added.

"And what would happen if you were exposed to sunlight?" Robin inquired.

"If even a ray of sunlight touched me, every inch that it fell upon would be reduced to naught but ash. A single step into the sun, and in a matter of moments, every trace would be wiped from this world."

My eyes widened when I heard that.

"You'd be killed?" everyone except for me asked.

Whoa. "So you kinda _are_ like a vampire -- at least, with the sunlight thing." Still...that sounds like a nasty end -- one I wouldn't want to wish on anybody. "Ouch."

Brook nodded grimly. "I saw someone with the same curse as me lose his mind and run into the sunlight. And at last, when his screams went silent there was nothing left but a pile of dust. It was so frightful, I swear my soul practically left my body a second time."

I flinched. Ouch.

"And just as the sunlight does not cast my shadow, my image cannot be reflected in a mirror or captured in a photograph. You must forgive me for startling you, but I hope that you can understand my reluctance to share this story. For as you can see, not only have all of my comrades been slain, I also live in a world without light!"

"Well, I hate to say it, but your life sure does suck," Sanji commented, glancing over at the skeleton.

Brook shrugged. "Even still, I'm so happy right now to have it! I've got the afro, a big smile -- the cheery gentleman skeleton Brook! Always a pleasure!"

"Well, I guess that's one way of looking at things," I commented, rubbing the back of my head. It was kinda surprising to hear that Brook was able to have such a happy outlook on life, despite the fact that he had gone through so many bad things.

"Where does all this optimism come from?" Sanji demanded.

Then Brook started laughing. At least, I _think_ that's what he was doing, what with him yelling "Yohohohoho!" while throwing his head back at least a little bit while his arms were far above his head.

"Hey...what's wrong?" Usopp sounded hesitant. "He's flipping out!"

Brook continued laughing for a moment more -- kinda starting to freak me out a bit -- and then he exclaimed, "What a wonderful day this has been! I met other people!" He lowered his arms and looked at the rest of us. "Buried in a heavy fog, even though I knew decades had passed, I couldn't tell when one day ended and another began. Unable to navigate or steer the ship...my companions long since dead...I could only drift aimlessly. And so I waited and waited, as the waves rocked me back and forth.

"You can't even imagine how lonely I was all those years! Not just lonely, but scared! Wanting to die every single day!"

Something in those words made me want to burst out into words myself; I could feel an ache in my chest at the same time. But...no headache came to tell me _why_ I felt like this. So I couldn't try and figure out why it was that something in me was...I dunno, calling out to Brook. Like I had been through something like what he was describing.

I decided to put thoughts of that aside. There was no way that I could have lived as long as Brook had. I mean, I only look what -- eighteen? Nineteen? There's no way that I could have memories like what Brook was describing.

Right?

"Even still, a long life is a blessing, not a curse." Brook raised his arms again as he threw his head back. "You've made me so happy! Meeting wonderful people gives my life meaning! Yohohoho! If I had but the eyes to shed them, I would be crying tears of happiness right now!"

Wow...to think that this guy could remain so optimistic after everything that had happened to him...was concentrating on happy thoughts how he coped with the loneliness for who knows how long he was alone?

Brook turned to look at Luffy. "I was happy beyond measure when you asked me to join your crew, and I sincerely want to thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Luffy grinned and laughed through his teeth like he usually did. I smirked.

"However, I fear that I must decline your offer."

My smirk disappeared pretty quickly as Luffy stared at the skeleton in shock.

"What? Why would you do that?!" Luffy demanded.

"As I mentioned to all of you just now, my shadow has been stolen from me, and I am unable to come into contact with any sunlight. Lonely though I may be, for now I am able to survive thanks to the thick fog covering these seas. However, if I were to go on a journey with you, it would only be a matter of time before I met my unfortunate demise. Therefore, however unlikely it may be, I'll wait for the day that my shadow can be restored -- make no bones about it. Yohohohoho!"

So, even though he's optimistic, he's pretty much resigned to his fate....

I got the aching feeling in my chest again, and, like before, no memories decided to surface. I wonder why my body wasn't helping me recover those memories at the moment, but decided to put the thought out of my head.

Luffy jumped to his feet, slamming his hands onto the table. "I don't want to hear you make excuses like that! If you need your shadow back so bad, then we'll get it back for you! You said someone stole it from you, right? Who was it? Where can we find them?"

Brook shifted his stance a little bit. "Thank you. You truly are a kind person, aren't you? But I'm afraid that, for that reason, I cannot tell you. We only just met, you see, and I cannot ask you to throw your life away attempting something that's nearly impossible."

"He's helping me recover my memories by having me journey around with him as a part of the crew," I piped up from where I stood near the skeleton. "And we had only just met when he said he would help. So I don't see why we can't do the same thing for you."

Brook looked back at me; I couldn't tell what he was thinking, thanks to the fact that he was a skeleton and technically didn't have a face. A sigh escaped from him, and he shook his head. "It sounds like your problem isn't as bad as mine."

"I'm sure the guy who stole it is tough and all," Franky spoke up, "but give me a break! You've got nothing to lose. The least you can do is tell us his name."

"No...it's best that I don't." Brook looked around the room at all of us. "Besides, I doubt I could find him, anyway. Yohohoho."

That sounded like a very sad laugh, considering how bouncy Brook was when he got on our ship.

"But, I have decided that if and whenever I do reach him, I will fight him to the death for my shadow. I...don't know when my second life will end, but I am willing to wait for him for the rest of my days."

Wow. Talk about commitment. I was pretty impressed with the skeleton's sense of patience...even if he was probably starting to annoy Luffy with it.

"But nevermind that." Brook turned and walked over to a case of some kind that he had managed to sneak onto the ship with him -- Sanji wouldn't let him put it on the table, considering that it was a place for eating. Honestly, considering that the skeleton had been sitting on an old, rotting ship for who knows how long...well, I couldn't blame the cook for being a little cautious.

"Why don't I play a song for you?" Brook knelt down in front of the case and started messing with the claps that were keeping it closed...before pulling out a violin.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise when I saw the instrument. It looked like it was in good condition, too. I wonder how he managed that?

"I am skilled with a great many instruments," Brook commented, resting the violin on his shoulder. "When I sailed the seas with my old crew, I was their musician."

Musician? Why does that word seem so familiar?

"What?" Luffy looked eager when he heard that. "Are you serious? Our crew needs a musician! Hurry up and join us already -- I'm begging you!"

Brook laughed. "I haven't played music for anyone in years, but here goes." He turned his head to look at the violin...and paused.

A frown came over my face. Surely he wasn't getting stage fright right--

My thoughts came to a halt when Brook let out an ear-shattering scream that caused me to cover my ears and shut my eyes.

"Ow! Watch your volume!" I yelped, opening one eye to shoot him a glare. I jumped back in surprise, though, when he fell to the floor.

"Hey!" Sanji moved forward. "What's wrong? You're freaking out!"

Brook's lower jaw started clattering as he tried to get the words out of his mouth. It looked kinda like he was staring at something, so I followed his line of vision...and froze.

"A g-g-g-g-ghost!" Brook yelped.

My eyes widened in shock when I saw the strange, white thing float _through the wall_ and enter the room, remaining pretty close to the ceiling.

"Get out!" Chopper squeaked.

Luffy had the opposite reaction. "This is too cool!" He looked over at me. "Maria, is that one of those Pokemon things?"

"It doesn't look like one I've seen before," I responded, shaking my head. "Ghost-Types are usually dark purple, not a translucent white like that."

The white thing, with big red lips and round, black eyes flew across the ceiling in a moment before disappearing through the wall.

"Hey, look -- it's leaving," Zoro commented.

And then there came a loud grinding noise, and the entire room shook.

"What in the name of Moltres?" I yelped, stumbling and coming up against a wall so that I could stay on my feet.

"Something's happening to the ship!" Zoro gripped one of the swords at his side, like he was about to whip it out and slash something.

Brook started moving, and he dashed out of the room through the door that led out to the central area of the surface of the ship. "Oh no, it can't be--"

Curious, I followed after the skeleton as he ran out the door.

Brook burst out the door, me on his heels. The two of us stopped short upon seeing what exactly it was that was ahead of us.

"Oh, what terrible fortune!" Brook exclaimed. "You must have been watching them -- that's the only thing that makes sense!"

"What's going on, Brook?" I asked, eyeing the wall of white rocks in front of the ship uneasily. "That...doesn't exactly look friendly."

"Everyone, look to the front!" Brook called back into the galley. "That noise we heard was this gate slamming shut. Our passage has already been blocked off."

Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro came out and joined the two of us.

"That thing is a gate?" Luffy asked, frowning slightly.

"It looks like teeth," Usopp commented nervously. "Like a giant sea monster is gonna eat us all!"

"What's goin' on here?" Zoro muttered, frowning.

"That's what I'd like to know," I piped up in agreement. I looked up at the gate in front of us...and shuddered a little when I saw that it looked like the top of the gate was a lip -- like what you might see on a person. Was there a sea monster in front of us that looked like a human?

"It seems this is the back side of the gate," Brook stated somewhat fearfully.

"That bad?" Luffy asked.

"Considering the fact that Brook looks like he's panicking," I commented, "yeah, I think it is."

"This is _very_ bad," the skeleton confirmed. He turned and ran back into the galley, calling, "Come to the rear of the ship! Hurry!"

We ran after him, taking a shortcut through Chopper's doctor's office in order to get to the rear deck quickly.

As soon as I got there -- the last of the group -- I came to a skidding halt and stared at what was ahead of us with wide eyes.

"What the...." I couldn't believe my eyes.

Brook let out a gasp before he turned to look at Luffy, who was standing on top of the railing. "Did you by any chance pick up a barrel from the waters on your way here?"

A barrel? It didn't take me too long to remember the thing that had sent up that bright red flare before the storm had hit us.

It seemed that Luffy remembered it about the same time because he said rather guiltily, "Yeah, we did...."

"It was a trap. You're all in great danger." Brook looked around at us. "Simply put, your ship's been targeted ever since you came here."

"Targeted?" I repeated, surprised. I swallowed nervously as I continued to look at what was inside the gate with us.

"You mean there's someone out there hunting us down?" Luffy asked, frowning. He looked back at the gate. "And by the way, how'd we run into that gate when our ship's not moving?"

"I think another, more important question we should ask is where the island came from," I remarked, looking at what was behind the ship. "Because I definitely did _not_ see that thing when we went over to Brook's ship."

Like anyone would be able to miss the creepy-looking old mansion, the giant chain wrapped around a wheel high above us, and the heavy fog that was coating the trees. It looked like the entire stretch of land was a graveyard.

It was almost like we had found an island version of Lavender Town, with Mt. Pyre's fog problems. I could almost hear the creepy music playing at the back of my head, and _that_ was something I could do well without!

"Yeah...where _did_ the creepy island come from?" Luffy glanced over at Brook.

"This is the ghost island that wanders throughout these seas," the skeleton murmured. "They call it Thriller Bark."

I felt a shudder pass through me. Yeah...definitely did _not_ sound like a fun place.

"Uh huh." Luffy stated with a straight face. "I see."


	3. An Invisible Beast-Poltergeist?

**Maria's POV**

 

"Hey, this is strange."

I turned and looked over at Nami, as did the others. She was looking at the Log Pose strapped to her wrist. "The Log Pose isn't reacting to this island at all."

"And it's supposed to, right?" I asked, frowning. "I remember you saying something like that back on Water 7. Something about magnetic fields?"

"Yeah, that's right." Nami nodded.

"It shouldn't." Brook turned to look at the navigator. "Originally, this island came all the way in from the West Blue."

"The West Blue?" Nami repeated, surprised.

"Indeed." Brook sounded extremely grim as he turned and walked back inside the _Sunny_.

"How could an island from the West Blue manage to get all the way to the Grand Line?" I asked, frowning. "Islands are supposed to be anchored down to the sea floor, aren't they?"

"Hey, where are you going?" Sanji asked, frowning after the skeleton as he walked through Chopper's office.

"Truly, this has been a fortunate day for me," Brook commented, picking up his purple cane from where it was leaning against a table. "Not only was I able to meet you, but now my wish has been granted as well." He opened the door at the other side of the galley.

Luffy jumped off the railing and ran around the cabin to where Brook had probably come out; the rest of us followed after him. I could hear Brook laughing clearly in the foggy air.

"That's a hell of a jump!" I heard Sanji comment. He must've gone through the galley instead of around like the rest of us. His comment made me kind of curious, though. The skeleton had jumped?

"Yes!" Brook called out. "There's no pesky flesh weighing me down!"

Luffy and the rest of us rounded the corner of the cabin, and I caught sight of Brook standing on top of the figurehead on the other end of the ship.

"He _jumped_ over there?" I asked, looking up at Sanji in surprise.

The cook nodded dumbly.

"Please, do not follow me!" Brook called out. "You must break through the gate and escape this place! Whatever you do, you cannot drop your anchor in here. That being said, it truly was a pleasure meeting all of you here today! I won't forget your kindness so long as I live!" Brook raised the top hat off his afro. "Farewell! I hope we meet again on the high seas!"

With that, he jumped off the figurehead and fell down to the water below.

"Hey, Brook -- wait!" Luffy called out.

Wait a sec...he's a _skeleton._ And he ate a _Devil Fruit._ Doesn't that mean he can't swim?

"Isn't he a Devil Fruit user?" Zoro asked, coming to the same conclusion.

"He's gonna sink like a rock!" Usopp added.

"Not unless we go down and find him first," I commented.

And then Brook's laughter reached our ears...accompanied by the sound of splashing water.

"Yohohohohoho!"

I turned my head in the direction of the noise...and I couldn't believe my eyes.

"He's running on the water!" Usopp and I exclaimed at once. We exchanged glances when we noticed that we had spoken at once.

"That is too cool!" Luffy declared, grinning like the maniac he was.

"He's like a crazy Water-Type or something," I muttered, scratching the top of my head at the sight.

"Anyway, Luffy," Nami started, "we should listen to him and get moving. "I don't really understand the situation here, but I do know this island is bad news."

"I'll agree with you on that," I stated, turning to look at the navigator. I spared a glance in the direction of the island. "This place reminds me way too much of the Pokemon graveyards that I've been to. _Especially_ Lavender's Pokemon Tower."

Luffy turned his wide grin in our direction. "You guys say something?"

"He totally wants to go!" Usopp, Nami, and Chopper exclaimed at once.

Huh. That makes me wonder if Luffy's some kind of trouble magnet or something like that.

"I've had enough ghosts for today," Usopp stated quickly. "I don't need a whole island of them!"

"Wait a sec -- what about that ghost we saw before, huh?" Chopper piped up. "Is it still here on the boat?"

"No; looked like it was flying to the island." Zoro motioned in the direction of the graveyard monstrosity in front of us. "I'm guessing that's where the thing came from."

"Makes the most sense," I grumbled.

"Interesting," Robin spoke aloud. Everyone looked at her. "Like Brook said, the loud noise we heard earlier was from that gate over there closing shut." She pointed the mouth-and-teeth-looking thing that was barring the _Sunny's_ path. "So it's not that we ran into it, but that we were 'eaten' by the mouth."

"It ate us?" Luffy asked in confusion.

I think I was starting to see where Robin was going. "Well, considering that we didn't see the island earlier...." I looked at the archeologist. "Does that mean the entire island is a ship, do you think?"

Robin gave a slight nod. "The fog makes it difficult to tell, but I imagine that the walls we see here extend all the way around the island in a circle. That means that we were intentionally pulled in, and now that the gate is closed, we're trapped inside."

"I see!" Usopp jumped in. "That's why the skeleton told us to run away! It's because we're stuck inside some kind of trap!"

I did _not_ like the sound of that.

"Wait." I turned my attention to Nami. "Then that would mean that the people here are capturing the sailors on purpose, right?"

I heard the door to the galley slam shut, and I frowned at it before looking around the deck. Luffy had disappeared for some reason. I wondered if he was going after an extra snack or something.

"But, why?" Nami frowned.

"If this is a moving island, that means we're still technically out at sea," Franky commented from behind me. "Guess we won't be able to anchor down here."

Usopp made a noise of alarm, and he turned sharply to glare at Franky. "Hold on -- that's the last thing we wanna do! We've gotta get out of this place right now!"

"I think Usopp's right on this one," I spoke up. "I've been to graveyards and places like this before, but the only time that one released a vibe like this was back when I actually had to confront the angry spirit of a dead Pokemon -- not an actual Ghost-Type, but an angry enough ghost that it was causing a lot of trouble. I don't know what sort of things are going to be on this island, but something tells me that island's bad news."

Nami sighed and sank down against a wall, tucking her knees up against her chest. "Bad news, you guys. I think I have I-can't-go-on-that-island disease."

"Me, too," Chopper whimpered. "I have it real good."

I-can't-go-on-that-island disease? Can't say that I've heard something like _that_ before. Hope it's not contagious...or do I have it, if I'm nervous about what's on that island?

Can you blame me for being nervous? I've been to five different regions -- Kanto, Jhoto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova -- and every single time, there was some graveyard where creepy Pokemon lived. I got used to the idea of entering graveyards after a _while,_ sure, but Lavender Town's was the most creepy, and Thriller Bark feels a _lot_ like Lavender Town. And I don't have my Pokemon with me -- for whatever reason that may be -- so that just made things a whole lot more difficult.

It was at this point that Luffy stepped out of the galley again, carrying what looked like a green, plastic cage over one shoulder and a butterfly net in one hand. "No problem. You two can watch the ship."

"And you've got that stupid adventure sickness again!" Usopp glared at Luffy. "Come to your senses! Come on! Look at that!" He pointed at the island. "That tall building is a bonified creepy haunted mansion if I've ever seen one! And I'm not talking about the fun kind, either! This is the kind where you never make it out alive."

That was the first time that I'd ever heard of that. "There are _fun_ versions of haunted mansions? I think that there are more than enough of the real ones, thank you very much."

Usopp nodded to me in agreement.

"You worry too much." Luffy waved off Usopp's panicked statements. "I'm not going there to pick a fight. I promise I'll be careful." A wide grin spanned his features. "I'm just wanna catch that ghost and keep it as a pet."

I stared at him like he had just said that we had Kyogre strapped to the bottom of the ship and the Chaos Emeralds in the cargo hold.

I rubbed my left temple. "Luffy, ghosts are pretty much made of _gas_ \-- there's no way that you're going to be able to keep it in that cage, much less a butterfly net." Of course, those where Pokemon Ghosts that I was talking about -- I didn't know what exactly that white one we saw was gonna do when it caught sight of Luffy and his net.

"You're gonna get us all killed!" Usopp yelled.

Luffy ignored the both of us. "Either way, Brook's a part of our crew now, so we have to bring him back. Sanji, get me a Pirate Lunchbox."

A what? I raised an eyebrow at Luffy's request.

"He's a part of our crew?" Usopp repeated in confusion. "Hey, I did _not_ vote for that. And besides, if we have a living skeleton wandering around the ship, I won't be able to sleep at night!"

"I've trained Pokemon that were considered ghosts on my team," I spoke up, shrugging. I remembered one of the Pokemon that I had picked up in some desert ruins and added, "If I can work with one that supposedly captures people and turns them into mummies, I don't think that a skeleton's going to be a problem."

Usopp gave me a pale-faced, panicked expression. "Y-you'd better wish that we don't run into a monster like that!"

"Relax; it was just a rumor that people in ancient times made up about them. Cofagrigus just _look_ like a sarcophagus."

That didn't seem to make it any better. Usopp looked like he was about to faint.

"Here," Robin spoke up suddenly. "I've got the lunchboxes."

"Luffy, Franky," Sanji added, "It's up to you to take care of Robin while I watch the boat."

"Nothing gets my cola pumping like an adventure on a crazy new island." Franky gave a large grin, and I committed a facepalm. They were really going through with this, when Brook had told us to _get away from the haunted island._

"Robin, you aren't seriously going with them, are you?" Nami asked nervously.

"It does sound...exciting," the archeologist responded, sounding amused.

"Right! Now, listen up." Franky grinned at the rest of us. "Obviously, we're going to use a smaller boat to pull us closer to the shore. The Soldier Dock System has something pretty damn _super_ for that!"

Oh? They're not going to use the rowboat we used earlier?

"I've been keeping this one a surprise in Channel 2!"

"What's that?" Usopp, Luffy, Nami, Chopper, and I asked.

"Good question. The Soldier Dock System has six channels. Two of them are Zero. The other ones are numbered One through Four. Naturally, each Dock has its own set of capabilities."

"We know the Zeroes are for paddling," Nami spoke up, "and we've already seen 1 and 3. But...."

"Didn't you tell us a while back that Docks 2 and 4 were empty?" Usopp finished.

Franky simply chuckled and motioned for us to follow him down to the main deck, where he walked across the lawn before opening up a circular hole in the center. The cyborg disappeared down the hole, smirking.

The rest of us exchanged glances before Usopp shrugged and followed Franky down, Chopper and Nami on his heels. After a moment, I followed down, as well.

"I just told you that so that I could surprise you later," Franky explained as I got off the ladder and jumped to the floor. I heard this weird, echoing _clang_ noise as I landed, and I glanced down at the floor. Looked like it was made out of metal, but...wouldn't it have made that noise if it had come into contact with something else made out of metal?

I was distracted from my own mental questions when Franky pulled up on a door of some kind, revealing that there was something behind it. We poked our heads around the cyborg...and I gotta say, I think that Nami, Usopp, and Chopper were even more excited about what it was than I was.

Still, that didn't mean that _I_ wasn't excited -- I just wasn't about to dash into it like the others were. I mean, I didn't get to really _know_ the ship that they had been on before the _Sunny,_ so....

Besides, I didn't really feel like leaving the ship at the moment.

"So you three want to give it a try, huh?" Franky asked, grinning. "All right. Come on, lil sis. I can't wait to see the look on Luffy's face when he sees it." He turned and climbed up the ladder again, and I waited a moment before I shimmied up after him.

As soon as I had gotten up onto the deck, Franky was already making a beeline for the helm. "Soldier Dock System, Channel 2!" I could hear the machinery in the ship moving underneath the deck as the doors shifted around so that Nami, Usopp, and Chopper would be able to get out.

"I can't wait to see it!" Luffy exclaimed as he ran over to one side of the ship. I soon joined the others, smiling slightly as I looked out over the water.

It wasn't too long before Nami and the others came out from inside the ship, the small paddles working as steam came out of the smokestack at the back of the little boat they were in.

"A paddleship shopping boat!" Franky stated, coming over to the rest of us. "Not bad, huh? I call it the Mini Merry 2."

I could see the grins on Zoro's and Sanji's faces as Luffy leaned over the deck railing so that he could get a closer look at the boat Nami was driving. It definitely looked like a miniature version of the _Going Merry_ \-- it even had the figurehead that the old Straw Hat ship had once had.

"Our Merry's been reborn as a landing craft!" Usopp crowed from where he sat in the back of the paddleship. I think I could see Chopper holding onto the neck of the figurehead while Nami whooped in delight.

I couldn't help but laugh a little at Usopp's exclamation. I could tell that he really loved that ship a _lot,_ so getting the Mini Merry was like having Christmas and a birthday at once.

It was easy to see that all three of them were having a lot of fun, as they were driving around the water whooping and hollering in delight. I probably had a pretty huge grin plastered on my face myself...until I saw something coming up from the island.

"Uh...That's a pretty big wave," I commented a little nervously, pointing at the wall of water coming from the shore and towards us. Luckily, it wasn't Aqua Laguna size, but it was still pretty big.

The Mini Merry kept right on going, seeming to pick up speed before it suddenly overshot the wave and went rocketing right over it, skipping three times over the water before it finally came to a stop.

"Now this is one surprise that was certainly worth the wait for!" Nami called out. "Thanks, Franky! I love it!"

Luffy started jumping up and down, grinning and giggling.

"Now, with a ship like that, I could go shopping for food in style anytime I want!" Sanji declared, grinning widely.

"Hurry up and let me ride it! Hurry up and let me ride it!" Luffy called out.

"I gotta say, that was pretty thoughtful of you," Zoro commented, looking back at Franky. I looked at the cyborg as well and nodded in agreement.

The cyborg smirked and rubbed under his nose before turning to look at Luffy. "Hold your horses, Luffy. We'll have our chance to take her for a ride soon enough. For now, how about we let those three have all the fun?"

Luffy stopped jumping and looked back at Franky. "So is that all the Dock stuff or what?"

Franky gave a nod. "Including the Channel One and Three that I showed you before, now you've seen it all. Channel Zero's Cola Engine Paddles, Channel One's single-seat Waver, Channel Three's triple-seater scouting submarine, the Shark Submerge, and then Channel Two -- the Mini Merry, which can seat 4 people. For now, at least, those are all the features of the ship's Soldier Dock system. If you think of the _Sunny_ as the mother ship, then you can think of these little guys as the soldiers that help her out."

Huh. Interesting way to put it, but I can certainly see that.

"Yeah, I love it!" Luffy slapped Franky on the back. "You're a genius, Franky! Keep it up!"

Franky smirked. "Well, what can I say? I'm extra awesome this week, huh?" He promptly struck a pose, putting his arms together so that his blue star tattoos met. " _Super!"_

I started to laugh -- mainly because Franky's antics had knocked over our captain -- but then I heard a familiar scream from out on the water.

"Nami!" Sanji said with worry as he and I turned to look out over the sea. The cook bent over the deck railing. "Nami! What's wrong? You're not in trouble, are you?"

"Can't see a damned thing out there," Zoro muttered, coming over. "It's just fog and more fog."

"If it was even foggier, you could probably cut through it," I commented, glancing up at Zoro. I wasn't quite his height -- maybe half a head below his shoulders or so. Considering that a good deal of the crew was taller than me, I wasn't about to complain about being a shorty in that regard.

"It sounded like her scream came from the island," Robin spoke up from behind us, causing Sanji to glance back. His head whipped around again, a terrified expression appearing on his face -- terrified for Nami's sake more than anything else, I think.

Luffy suddenly dashed forward. "No fair! You gotta come back so I can ride the Mini Merry, too! Stop hogging all the fun!"

"That's all you're worried about?!" Sanji and I barked at our captain.

"What about Nami?" the cook demanded.

"That island definitely doesn't look safe," I agreed. "She and the others could be in danger out there!"

"Yeah -- Usopp and Chopper are out there, too," Franky spoke up behind us.

"I wonder...could it be that they fell victim to a curse from that ghost?" Robin commented.

I felt a shudder go down my spine at the idea. The _move_ Curse, when used by a ghost, was definitely more than just a hassle in battle, as it could either lower a non-ghost user's speed in exchange for raised attack and defense...or it could cause a Pokemon to slowly lose their health points to its affects. A _human_ getting hit with a Curse...that wasn't a pleasant thing to think about.

"Come on," Zoro muttered. "That's not funny."

There came the sudden noise of grinding machinery from the front of the ship, and we turned our heads upon hearing the noise.

"What the...." I blinked a couple times when I saw one of the lion paws on the front of the ship drop into the water.

"What just happened?" Sanji asked.

"Crazy! The anchor just dropped on its own!" Luffy stared at the rope that connected the paw.

"That's not supposed to happen, is it?" I asked, turning to look at Franky.

The cyborg shook his head. "Definitely not. I just built this ship, so there's no way that the gears got loose."

"Well, either way, we're going to have to pull it up," Zoro commented. "We can't have the ship lose it's balance."

The hatch in the middle of the deck suddenly opened up, causing me to jump in surprise.

"That's weird," Franky muttered, frowning. "Did somebody touch the hatch?"

"I don't think that any of us were close enough to it," I responded, holding up my hands in a defensive gesture. "There's gotta be something else going on here...."

Zoro gripped at one of his swords, looking ready to draw it at any moment. I brought out my staff in a shower of sparks, ready to knock the whatever-it-was over the head.

I heard the sound of something stretching, and I looked around for a moment before seeing that Luffy -- for some weird reason -- had his cheeks stretched out.

"What in the name of the Grand Line? Luffy, can you normally stretch out your cheeks without grabbing them?" I asked.

"Hey!" Sanji glared at Luffy. "Now is _not_ the time for this crap! Could you take things seriously for once?!"

Luffy held up his hands defensively. "Wait! It's not me! I-I swear I'm not doing this!" His cheeks suddenly snapped back into place, and our captain fell to the deck as a result of the recoil.

There suddenly came a clattering noise from where Zoro was standing, and he let out a yell of alarm when one of his swords suddenly came flying out of its sheath and went up into the air before it came flying down, point first, in Luffy's direction.

"Look out!" Franky kicked Luffy out of the sword's path just seconds before the sword hit the deck and buried its point in the grass. The cyborg then turned to glare at Zoro. "You nuts? What are you trying to pull here?!"

"That wasn't me!" Zoro barked back. He gained a bit of an uneasy expression. "The sword just moved on its own."

That didn't sound good -- nor did it sound even remotely possible.

"Well, this is strange," Sanji muttered.

"I've got a hunch that we're not alone here," Franky agreed.

I swallowed nervously. "Looks like we've got a poltergeist on deck." I tightened my grip on my staff...before I felt something try to pull it upwards out of my grip. Instinctively, fire suddenly came to life and started to lick up the length of the staff, causing a loud snarl to be heard right before I felt the pulling stop.

I probably could have let my staff go and just summoned it again, but I wanted to make sure that I had my weapon on-hand. Besides, it gave me a chance to do some damage to whoever-it-was that was trying to get my phoenix-topped staff away from me.

I think that I saw a pair of large hands outlined in the flames before the yanking stopped, so the whatever-it-was could have been human. But then again, poltergeists -- ghosts that can interact with solid objects and cause a lot of trouble -- couldn't really be counted as human anyway.

Zoro walked over to his sword and pulled it out of the deck before sheathing it. "Then we have an enemy on this ship," he stated grimly.

"So, you think it's a ghost doing this stuff?" Franky looked over at me. "Or is it someone with a Devil Fruit power?"

"Devil Fruit power?" I repeated, blinking. A frown came over my face soon after. "What kind of Devil Fruit would let someone walk around deck without being seen?"

Sanji stiffened up when I said that, and his eyes widened. I wonder what made him react like that.

"Who or whatever it is, at least we know they're close," Luffy commented, getting up from where he had been kicked.

"Just now, I heard something that sounded like some sort of beast growling," Robin spoke up. That didn't sound good. But, then again....

"I did hear a snarling noise when I set my staff on fire," I spoke up. "The poltergeist decided to try and grab my staff and I just reacted."

Sanji got up on the deck railing and got into a crouch; it looked like he was ready to jump off and go for a swim. "Right now, I'm more concerned about Nami. You guys take care of the boat." With that, he jumped off.

"What are you gonna do?" Zoro called after him.

"I'm gonna swim over to the island and rescue her, of course!"

Sanji didn't get too far, though. He suddenly dropped out of the air and slammed into the side of the ship. And it looked like he was being rotated by one foot that was stretched out behind him....

"Whoa!" Zoro, Franky, and Luffy exclaimed together. "That was lame!"

Then things started to get a bit creepier. I think that my eyes were as big as plates when I saw Sanji get lifted up above the ship, feet first.

"Hey, I didn't know that Sanji could fly," Luffy commented, confused.

"I don't think he can," Franky replied. He frowned, uncertain. "Can he?"

It looked like Sanji was starting to get swung around by his feet. He was then suddenly let go and ended up slamming into the deck next to Zoro, face first.

I flinched. "Ow." The poltergeist -- or whatever-it-was -- didn't look like it wanted any of us to leave the ship.

"You, uh...having problems?" Zoro asked, eyeing Sanji as he started to get to his feet.

"Shut up, damnit!" Sanji barked back. "You saw what happened to me!"

"Whatever it is, it wants to keep us on the ship," Franky noted, looking around.

"Yeah, but why?" I asked, frowning. "And wouldn't it have dragged Nami, Usopp, and Chopper back here if it wanted all of us?"

"Can't see this bastard at all," Zoro muttered. "It could take us out one by one and we wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it."

Robin let out a yell of alarm, and we all looked over in the direction of the archeologist.

"Robin, what's wrong?" Sanji demanded. I couldn't help but wonder that myself, seeing as she had arms sprouting from her, and they were pushing against something, almost as though trying to get something off her....

"Something's grabbing me!" Robin responded...seconds before a licking noise resounded across the deck. I could actually _see_ the saliva as it ran up from Robin's chest to the side of her face.

I felt disgusted. "Ew. That's gross."

"You bastard!" Sanji roared. "Get your invisible hands off her!" He started to run forward, only to end up getting tripped. I say "getting tripped," because there's no way that anyone like Sanji would trip on a flat surface.

A low growling noise started to come across the deck, and I gipped at my phoenix staff with both hands. No way was I going to be caught off guard if I could help it...besides, that growling noise was bringing back memories of certain kinds of Pokemon and animals.

"It really _does_ sound like some kind of animal," Luffy commented, looking around the deck.

"Yeah." I gave a nod. "Like a big cat of some kind."

Then the ship suddenly shifted to one side, causing all of us to stumble in surprise at the movement.

"What is it now?!" Luffy demanded, keeping a hand on his hat so that it wouldn't end up falling off.

"Look!" Franky managed to make his way to one side of the ship. "I don't know what's going on, but we've got waves inside the wall! They're pushing us away from the island!"

I looked back and forth across the deck, taking note of the distance between us, the wall, and the island that was seemingly in the middle of everything. The _Sunny_ seemed to be handling the waves fairly well, but that didn't mean that we could take that as good news. If we were being pushed away from the island, it was likely that we were being pushed away from where Nami and the others were.

Sanji got to his feet and caught Robin as she stumbled with the waves; I planted the butt of my staff on the deck in order to stay upright. "I've got you. You okay?"

"I think so." Robin glanced back at the cook behind her. "It seems to be gone."

"Quick -- raise the anchor." Zoro moved towards the back of the ship. He looked directly at Sanji. "If you think you can do it without falling on your face again."

"At least I'm not throwing swords!" Sanji barked back.

I sighed miserably. Even when we seemed to have a poltergeist on the ship, there was still a chance that they would keep on yelling at each other.

"Usopp! Chopper! Say something!" Sanji moved over to the side of the ship closest to the island and yelled at the top of his lungs before snarling in annoyance. "Crap, we're gonna get separated from them!"

"Hey, Franky." Luffy turned to look at the cyborg. "You've gotta have a secret weapon for a time like this."

"All right! I'll bust out the surprise hot tub!"

"Hot tub?" I looked at Franky like he was going insane.

"Sounds like fun!" The grin that had been on Luffy's face faded pretty quickly.

"No!" Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji barked at once.

"What good is a hot tub going to be in this situation, Franky?" I asked, rubbing my head with one hand.

Franky shrugged. "I dunno. Kinda seemed like a good idea."

"It's less of a secret weapon and more of a party favor," I muttered irritably. "Maybe we should try something else to get out of this mess...."


	4. Thriller Bark's Monsters

** Maria's POV **

The waves kept rocking the ship, and Zoro had us running around the deck, trying to see if there was anything that we could do to stabilize the ship -- and get closer to the shore so that we could find Nami, Usopp, and Chopper.

So far, we weren't having much luck.

"We're drifting away!" Zoro bellowed over the crashing waves. "Do something, stupid!"

"You got any ideas, _genius?_ " Sanji snarked in reply from the helm. Since I was standing nearby and using my phoenix staff to help keep my balance, I noticed that the helm wasn't turning no matter how hard he pulled. "The wheel won't move an inch!"

Zoro and the others came up onto the front deck, joining Sanji and me. Luffy hadn't moved from his position on the figurehead since Franky's joke about the hot tub.

"Even if we used the paddles, those waves are too high," Franky commented, looking around at the sea as he came up.

"Eh. I'm in no big hurry -- and I'm still having some fun." Luffy glanced back at the rest of us. "Besides, this'll take us to the island sooner or later."

I couldn't help but wonder a bit at how calm Luffy was. It was like he had seen far worse than this.

Considering what exactly had happened at Enies Lobby...I guess that some kind of storm was really not all that much trouble.

"Oh yeah?" Sanji glared up at our captain. "What about Nami, huh? You forget about her?"

"What is that?"

I turned to look over at Robin in confusion as Luffy turned to look ahead of us. Then I followed her gaze...and frowned a bit.

"Is that a--"

"--spider's web?" Zoro finished, frowning.

Something suddenly caused the ship to rock forward, and I quickly did what I could to adjust how I was standing. Luffy was sent flying off the figurehead and rammed his head into the stand that the helm was on.

"If we keep going like this, then we're going to be trapped," Robin stated with worry.

Franky picked up on that instantly. "Hurry! Use the paddle -- quick!"

"It's too late." Robin's voice became grim. "We're already caught."

"That doesn't sound good...."

The ship, which had been slowly been turning as we had been speaking, suddenly rammed into the spider's web we had seen, rear end first. The force of the collision with the sticky, springy stuff caused us to stumble across the deck. I ended up losing my balance and stumbled back a couple steps before I could plant the butt of my phoenix staff on the deck. By that time, my back was nearly touching the figurehead.

"Damnit!" Franky stood upright and turned to glare at the back of the ship. "What now?"

I looked up, and noticed that the web had managed to spread itself across the sails and over the back half of the ship.

"It's not like the ship took any damage, but I doubt that we're going to be able to sail anytime soon," the cyborg commented, frowning. "By the way, I'd hate to see the spider that spun this thing! It's freakin' huge!"

"It could be a whole nest of spiders," I spoke up, remembering what had happened a few times in the past. "Ariados can make webs that are this big...but I think that the strands are normally smaller...."

Something else came to mind, then, and my expression brightened. "And they were usually pretty flammable. I bet I could burn through this and get us free in no time."

"And risk damaging the _Sunny?"_ Franky shook his head at me. "No can do, lil sis. I don't want to risk it."

Well, there goes _that_ idea. I gained something of a pouting expression. "Well, what now, then?"

Franky frowned up at the spider web. "Well, thanks to this thing, we're dead in the water." He paused. "No pun intended."

"There was a pun in that?" I frowned.

"Something's not right about this...." Zoro had a look on his face that clearly said that he didn't like what was going on around us. I couldn't exactly say that I liked it, either.

"Well, it's not like we'd be leaving, anyway." Sanji turned and started down to the main deck while Luffy grabbed the "ghost-hunting gear" that he had brought out earlier. "We have to find Nami -- and the others too, I guess. Who's going to stay and guard the ship and who's going to go to the island?"

"I'm going," Luffy stated seriously. A grin appeared on his face moments later. "I want to catch a ghost!"

"And I'm going to find Nami and make sure that you don't get yourself into trouble." Sanji sent Luffy an annoyed look -- which the captain promptly ignored.

"I think it would be interesting to explore this island," Robin commented, sounding intrigued. She turned and looked over at me. "What do you think, Maria-san?"

"Wha--me?" I looked at the archeologist in surprise before looking over at the island through the spider web. My mind started working, and a phrase that seemed to be sung went through my head -- _Should I stay or should I go?_

I mean, I'd been to places that were (supposedly) haunted before...but they were only haunted by Ghost-Types. Now, though...there was an invisible cat-thing that had tried to kill my captain and that weird-looking ghost that had poked its head into the galley when we first ended up arriving here.

That made me nervous, but...there _was_ something that was tugging at me, trying to get me to get off the boat and onto the island. Maybe there was something there that could help me with my memories?

"Well...I guess it wouldn't hurt if I went," I finally stated, looking back at Robin.

"I'm coming too," Franky spoke up suddenly. "I want to see if there's something that we can use to get the spider web off the ship -- without doing any damage to the _Sunny._ " He sent me a meaningful look, and I shrugged in response.

"All right. That's five lunches coming right up." Sanji disappeared into the galley, leaving the rest of us standing on the deck.

"Hey, Maria -- you might want to get something to hold your lunch in." Luffy looked over at me. "And to hold a ghost in, if you find one."

I blinked a couple times. "Well, I guess I could get my satchel...but I don't know how much that'll end up slowing me down."

"Go get it anyway. Sanji makes big lunches." Luffy gave me a wide grin.

"Well...all right, then." I gave a nod, then turned and ran up to the girl's cabin and grabbed my satchel, making sure that I didn't have my books in it. I left my journal and a quill in there, and would have left the room with just those things were it not for the fact that the bags of Berries I had in the room were bugging me.

Yes, I was still harvesting them from the original trees that I had planted that first day out from Water 7. And, not only did they give Berries completely at random -- more like every few days rather than every 24 hours -- but I was getting a lot more as a result. So I ended up splitting the crops into thirds -- some went to Chopper, some went to Sanji, and I kept the rest in some sacks that Franky had let me take from one of the empty storerooms.

I knew that I had some Berries that could help counteract Ghost-Type attacks, and it didn't take me too long to find those. I grabbed about six of the Kasib Berries and stuffed them into a side pocket on my satchel before I tied the sack shut again and slipped out of the girls' quarters.

"There you are, Maria-san!" Sanji was already standing out on the dock with most of the other crew members, and it looked like he was holding a couple boxes in his hands while trying to keep them away from Luffy. "You might want to hurry if you're going to get your lunch!"

I scrambled down the stairs and across the main deck before pausing for a moment at the deck railing. The jump didn't look _too_ bad -- not as bad as jumping off the roof of a building in Water 7, at least -- so I got up on the railing and jumped off, landing on the wooden pier. Then I made my way over to Sanji and grabbed one of the boxes out of his hands.

"Thanks!" I dropped it into my satchel and closed the pocket before Luffy could get his hands in there. He gained a pouting expression as Sanji put the remaining box in his green backpack.

"Well, we should get going," Sanji remarked. "I'm not about to let Nami stay out there alone for a minute longer. Let's head out."

"Hey, Zoro!" Luffy looked back at the _Sunny_. "Get down here already!"

"Even if meeting that skeleton was a fluke, the fact that both the _Sunny_ and the Mini Merry got entangled in this web in the exact same spot is pretty damn fishy," Zoro commented from where he stood on the deck. There was a dark tone to his voice that clearly said he didn't like what was going on.

Wait -- the Mini Merry is stuck in this, too? They must have noticed that when I was grabbing my stuff. I craned my neck in order to see what exactly where the Mini Merry was, but I didn't see it. Must have been on the other side of the ship, then.

"Someone went to a hell of a lot of trouble to make sure that when we entered this place, it's through the front gate, and nowhere else," Zoro continued.

"Hmmm...." I looked up at the sign that was on top of two stone columns at the end of the dock. The words "Thriller Bark" were there in all caps. Certainly looked like a front gate, all right. I've run into instances where I've only been able to enter the front gate...at first. There may be secret passages or something in the area that'll let us move around more quickly after we've taken the main path for a bit.

"It does seem kinda strange, now that he mentions it, though," I commented aloud. "Usually, this kinda thing only happens if we've managed to get in someone's way enough times, and I don't really recognize the vibe of this place."

"Zoro!" Luffy yelled again. "You're gonna miss all the fun!"

"Are you seriously about to walk into a trap that's so damn obvious that even a headless zombie would have the sense to run away from it?" Zoro demanded in a louder voice.

"Pretty much, yeah. It's not like we have anything better to do. Besides, it'll be fun! And if you don't come, then I'm taking you're lunch." Luffy snickered.

"Son of a--" Zoro let out a growl of annoyance. "Fine. If I leave you alone, then I'll have to rescue you later, so I may just save myself the trouble and help you now." With that, he jumped off the ship and landed on the dock next to me.

"All right! Onward!" Luffy turned and started moving across the rotting dock, Zoro following him with an expression of annoyance. I moved after the two of them, rubbing my phoenix staff absently with my thumb.

"Took you long enough, mosshead," Sanji commented.

"Oh, shut up," Zoro responded shortly as he walked past the cook. Sanji fell into step next to the swordsman, and Robin and Franky moved behind me as we walked through the gate and into a corridor of stone that was open to the dark, foggy sky.

I eyed the sky for a moment, then noticed that Zoro and Sanji were starting to move down, so I returned my attention to what was ahead of us.

"Why is there suddenly a staircase leading down?" Sanji asked as we continued forward.

Something about this wasn't going to be fun. The entire island had an air that wasn't fun. Was this the trap that Zoro had suspected about?

"It's the only way in," Luffy pointed out from the head of the group. "Let's just go with it."

We reached the bottom of the stairs, and I felt my shoes crunch against something. I looked down at the ground and froze up for a moment.

"The floor is _covered in skeletons,"_ I hissed in surprise.

Luffy snickered. "I wonder if these can poop, too."

Really, Luffy? These skeletons are _clearly_ dead, and...stepping on people's remains like this gives me the chills. _Big_ chills.

I started to move a little more quickly. The sooner we got out of this trench, the better.

A growling sound started ahead of us, and I looked up from the skeletons. I had to move a bit to look around Zoro in order to see what was ahead of us.

"Ruff!" "Ruff!" "Hooooowl!"

...went the three-headed, blue-and-yellow, large bandaged mismatch of a monster in front of us. And it didn't look friendly, either.

"Yum!" Luffy exclaimed.

Wait, what?

The three-headed beastie didn't look like it understood what Luffy had just said, either.

"Check it out," Sanji commented in his usual manner. "It's Cerberus. We're literally on the path to hell right now."

Cerberus? That name sounds kinda familiar....oh, yeah. Guardian of the Underworld...aka Hell. If this is the real deal...then this isn't a good thing.

"Aw, I think it's kinda cute," Robin remarked.

"C-cute?!" I spluttered, looking away from the monster and looking back at the archeologist. "It looks like it got sent through a meat grinder and sewed back together afterwards!"

"Are they a threat?" Franky asked, frowning at Cerberus. "Cause I'm feelin' super."

If it _is_ a threat....I gripped my phoenix staff with both hands.

"Three heads are overkill," Zoro muttered.

"Says the man who carries three swords," I snarked. Zoro sent me a glare in response.

"Wonder what they taste like!" Luffy's tongue was lolling out of his mouth. Of course our captain would be thinking about food at a time like this.

The dog-thing started to look uneasy, and its three tails lowered. A part of me almost wanted to feel sorry for it...but the rest of me wanted to get that thing out of my sight as soon as possible. Pokemon didn't normally look like they had been through that bad of a scrape -- and if they did, then I hadn't run into them...yet.

Luffy snickered...then started making short, high noises that I guess was his version of barking. I ended up flinching a bit...but it looked like Cerberus was enjoying this even _less_ than I was.

"More like a three-headed chicken," Zoro commented.

"I guess," I commented, rubbing one of my ears. "Luffy could have found that out in a different way, though."

The dog-monster stopped flinching back from Luffy and let out a growl before all three heads went off: "Ruff! Ruff! Howl!"

"Weird how they got all riled up all of a sudden."

I frowned a bit and looked back and forth between the monster and Zoro. "Do you think they heard the chicken comment?"

The growling got a little louder.

"Maybe one of the heads remembered that they're supposed to be brave?" Sanji suggested.

"That's possible," Robin commented.

Oh, boy....

Zoro started to reach for one of his swords. "Anyway--"

Luffy held a hand in front of Zoro. "Nuh-uh! Dibs!"

"Dibs on Cerberus?" I blinked a couple times while Zoro looked a little uncertain at our captain's statement.

"I'm gonna tame him!" Luffy declared.

Wait... _what?_

I gave Luffy an incredulous look while Zoro snorted.

"You idiot. You can't _tame_ it -- you do know it's not a regular dog, right?" Zoro frowned disapprovingly at the back of Luffy's head.

"How different can it be?" Luffy took off his blue backpack -- probably had his food in it -- and dropped his ghost hunting gear on the ground next to it before facing Cerberus with his hands on his hips. Then he started forward, holding out a hand. "Come on -- shake!"

Cerberus then proceeded to bite down on Luffy's head, outstretched arm, and one of his legs. I facepalmed.

"I'm going to assume that we all saw this coming?" Franky asked dryly.

"Yeah...." I growled around my hand.

Robin giggled.

I heard a patting noise from ahead of us, and I looked up from my hand...only to see that Luffy was patting the center head with his free hand.

"What big strong teeth you have," Luffy said in a voice that clearly said that he was talking down to the monster. "Now, let go of Uncle Luffy's head...that's a good boys...easy does it."

Slowly, Cerberus actually moved _away_ from Luffy, letting our captain go.

"Whoa. I didn't think that was going to work," I commented, blinking a couple times.

"Now SIT!"

I jumped in surprise and let out a yelp when Luffy suddenly slammed the monster into the wall. "What in the Grand Line?!"

"Roll over," Luffy ordered, pointing at the collapsed, clearly stunned dog.

"Well...that just happened," Sanji commented dryly.

** Time Break **

Somehow, Luffy managed to get the dog-monster-thing back up on its feet, then got up _on_ it for a ride. He offered room for anyone else who wanted a ride, but no one took him up on it, deciding to walk instead.

"The poor thing's body looks pretty beat up," Robin commented from where she walked next to me. "I'm surprised that it can still walk around."

"I wonder what wise ass put this thing together," Sanji remarked from the other side of the dog. "Whoever it was, they couldn't tell the difference between a dog head and a fox head."

I blinked a couple times. "Fox head...?"

"Yeah. The yellow one. It's definitely a fox head."

I frowned as a flash of red came and went in my head. "I'm used to foxes being red, not yellow."

Luffy laughed from where he sat on the dog. "If this is the first creature that we met on the island, I can't wait to see what other stuff we run into."

I eyed the three heads, which were bowed low in what looked like defeat and unhappiness.

"Cerberus seems pretty down in the mouths," Robin noted, following my gaze.

"Come on, Robin -- don't pity him." I could see Zoro on the other side of the dog-monster. "You'll just make him feel worse. Just leave him alone already."

Sanji started moving around in front of us as we passed through a gate and into what looked like a dead forest of some kind. I think I had been in a place that looked similar to this before, but I couldn't really place where exactly.

"Can you hear me, Nami-swan?" the cook called out, moving around on the path. "Hello? Where are you, my feisty truffle?!"

"What kind of nickname is that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Robin chuckled.

"Hey! Wait up!" Franky ran up from where he had stopped at the stairs leading up out of the trench-thing. I glanced back as he came up behind Cerberus, then looked back at the path ahead of us...not that there was really all that much to see.

"Okay, Nami! When I saw sweetie, you say here! Sweetie!"

There wasn't an answer to Sanji's call.

"Doesn't look like they're in the area," I commented, referring to the trio that we had lost.

"Normally, I have a decent sense of direction, but I can hardly tell my Strong Right from my Coup de Boo around here," Franky commented.

"Your _what?"_ I looked at the cyborg in confusion for a moment before I remembered what exactly his "Coup de Boo" _was_.

"With so much fog around here, for all we know, we could be going in circles," Robin noted.

"I hope not." I frowned slightly, remembering something that had happened to me back in Sinnoh. "If only I had a Pokemon that knew Defog on me...then I might be able to do something about this fog."

Zoro gave a grunt from the other side of the dog-monster.

"Hey, Nami!" Sanji made a sound that seemed almost like he was cursing under his breath. "We would have had better luck if Mosshead had just stayed on the boat."

"How is this my fault?!"

"That's what I'd like to know," I remarked in response to Zoro's annoyed yell at the cook.

There was a strange noise ahead of us, and I paused, blinking for a moment, before turning to look for the whatever it was. As soon as I caught sight of it, though, I flinched back out of disgust.

"Eugh," I stuck my tongue out in disgust when I saw the weird-looking face stuck onto a tree and what looked like a crazed, sick unicorn. The tree-monster was pouring what looked like milk into a glass the unicorn was somehow managing to hold, and it was obvious that the two of them had been startled by us because the cup was overflowing.

It was absolutely disgusting and _unnerving_ , seeing those two things. Like with Cerberus, it was like they had just been patched together...or tossed through a meat grinder and patched up rather sloppily afterwards.

No Pokemon -- or other creature, for that matter -- was _meant_ to look like that. It's not natural, and just seeing those things sent shivers down my spine.

Nobody said anything for a moment...but then Luffy suddenly gave a loud, excited whoop, jumped off Cerberus, and started running after the tree-monster thing, waving his butterfly net around like it was going to be able to catch it. Both of them were yelling things at once, but I couldn't really tell what was being said -- mainly because the tree-monster thing was yelling like it was running from death.

"Hey! Get back here! I'm going to make a wish on you, whether you like it or not!"

I turned my head, and shuddered when I saw that Franky was chasing after the unicorn-monster, which looked equally terrified...but wasn't screaming. I don't think that it was even capable of screaming.

"Strong Right!"

"Gum Gum Pistol!"

Franky's and Luffy's fists went flying at the same time, and the chain that connected Franky's right hand to the rest of him was caught in the unicorn's mouth at the same time that Luffy slammed his net over the tree-thing's nose.

"Look what I caught!" the two declared at once.

I stuck out my tongue out in disgust. "How can you two stand to be close to those things?"

"You spoke of ghosts like they were everyday occurrences," Robin pointed out as Franky and Luffy started moving ahead with their captures.

"When it comes to Pokemon, they're a Type -- they're not literal ghosts. People just call them that because they act like what we would imagine ghosts to. Creatures that look like _those_ aren't natural. At all."

"Hey, Luffy!" Zoro moved forward. "What do you want to do with these guys?"

"Don't," Sanji growled in warning.

"How about they join my crew?"

"OVERRULED, DUMBASS!!"

I facepalmed at the trio's antics and let out a groan. "Luffy...you can't just ask those things to join our crew. They don't look natural."

"You got that right," Sanji grumbled.


	5. Negative! Negative!

** Maria's POV **

We managed to eventually convince Franky and Luffy that they had to let the unicorn and tree-monster-thing go (oddly enough, I think the monsters were both extremely relieved...makes me wonder how many times that they had been caught before us). 

Sanji was now giving Luffy a lecture on what he could and couldn't do involving people -- and it seemed to revolve around one single sentence.

"Like I said, don't go and make random things part of the crew!" Sanji repeated again. "With a reindeer and a robot we're random enough already!"

"Hey!" Franky sounded annoyed from where he sat on Cerberus' back. He had decided to sit up there with Luffy after letting the two monster-thingies go...and I wasn't about to get up there. "I'm not a robot, I'm a cyborg, you idiot!"

"You're not human, that's for sure!" Sanji barked back.

For some reason, the statement made me flinch a little bit, the words echoing in my mind for a moment. I think I heard something like that about myself back on Water 7...but it was in my head, and it was in _my_ voice.

So...did I say that about myself in a memory? But why? I certainly feel and look like I'm a human....

"I'm _basically_ still a human!"

"You're _basically_ a pervert!"

Sounds like Sanji and Franky were still going at it.

"Oh, if you put it like that, then...."

"No, that wasn't a compliment!"

"What might come out~" Luffy sang. "It's so much fuun~"

He could have done with some warming up before he started singing...I mean, it doesn't sound necessarily as bad as nails across a blackboard, but...I wouldn't recommend listening to him for hours on end. His voice isn't exactly good enough for it yet, but...I don't think that I'm going to think about it.

"You know," Robin commented, "that treeman and unicorn from earlier...."

"What is it?" Zoro asked.

"There's something that all the strange creatures in this forest have in common." Robin reached over onto one of Cerberus's heads and started scratching it. "Each of them have bandages, stitches, and numbers engraved onto their bodies."

"Numbers?" I blinked a couple times.

"Yeah -- there's a number 82 over here on Luffy's pet," Zoro spoke up. "You think that someone is controlling them somehow?"

"Something like that," Robin replied.

I didn't like the sound of that. Something was controlling these creatures? But...how? These things aren't Pokemon -- PokeBalls or anything similar probably wouldn't work, so what else could be used to control monster-creatures like that?

"What could they be controlled _with_?" I pointed out. "I mean, Luffy took out the dog-beast-thing, and it hasn't tried to attack us since then."

And that's when my ears started to itch...followed closely by the sound of a strange voice chanting the same word over and over again.

_ "Negative. Negative. Negative. Negative." _

"I can hear something," Luffy commented, cocking his head.

_ "Negative. Negative. Negative. Negative." _

"Doesn't sound very good," I stated, worried. I stopped moving, looking around at the foggy forest that we were in. "At least it isn't something one of the nastier songs that I've heard...it isn't a Perish Song at least, those can really grate on the ears."

_ "Negative. Negative. Negative. Negative." _

A white, floating blob hovered in past the trees, blobbish arms waving back and forth as the weird voice-thingy chanted.

"There it is! The ghost!" Luffy pointed a finger at the white, blob-thing.

It took me a minute to recognize the black, button-ish eyes, and the red clown lips the blob had. It was the same ghost that we had seen back on the ship.

"Wonder what that thing's doing out here," I commented, frowning. "Plus, there's kinda the whole 'not a Ghost-Type' thing. I wouldn't necessarily call that a ghost."

Just the same, I dug in my satchel for a moment before pulling out a purple-and-dark-red fruit -- a Kasib Berry. I promptly swallowed it.

_ "Negative. Negative. Negative. Negative." _

The ghost split into _four_. And some of them weren't moving in the same way.

"Or ghosts," I amended. Then I did a double-take. "Wait -- ghosts shouldn't be able to multiply like that! That's gotta be a Double Team....but then they'd be moving in the same direction...."

"Who cares? When it dances it clones itself! Amazing!" Luffy was standing on top of Cerberus, his butterfly net gripped in both hands.

I gave a sigh over the noise of the ghosts chanting. "There's no way that you're going to be able to catch any one of those with that. They can pass right through it if they want to. Probably pass through _you_ if they wanted to."

Just saying that made me shiver a little bit. I hadn't had a Ghost-Type pass through me in...well, my body said forever, but my memories claimed otherwise.

Luffy dismissed my statement. "Nah, they won't do that."

"I've got a bad feeling about that chant," Sanji said uneasily.

And there was that, too. "Yeah. The way they're saying it is just...too freaky."

Of course, Luffy ignored what we had said because of his excitement, and he proceeded to go after the four ghosts with his net...and like I had thought, every single one of the ghosts passed through the net like it wasn't even there.

"It's nothing but a soul, huh?" Franky sounded curious and amazed. "All right. Fresh Fire!"

A large flamethrower came into existence as Franky blew out, making a large fireball of sorts that instantly covered over two of the ghosts. I have to admit, I was a little hopeful that that would do them in. But, when I saw the ghosts fly out of the fire _completely_ unharmed, I growled something under my breath that got me a weird look from Robin and...something of a hopeful expression from the yellow head of Cerberus.

I wasn't exactly sure what that meant.

"Damnit," Franky cursed. "I thought that was going to work."

"You're not the only one," I responded. "I'd have thought that at least the fire would have done something!"

"Think it's one of those monster things you've been going on about?" Zoro gave me a curious look.

I shook my head. "Ghost-Types would have been hurt by the fire. These things are something else entirely."

"Well, what are they, then?" Franky asked, raising an eyebrow.

The four ghosts grouped together for a moment, high above Luffy's reach. They giggled to each other, then split apart and flew in different directions -- and straight through people.

The first to get passed through was Franky. The cyborg hunched over as soon as he was passed through and muttered unhappily, "I'm totally useless. This week I'm really useless. Whatever I do is useless. I don't deserve to live...." And then he collapsed, looking like he wanted to curl up on himself.

"Franky!" I yelped, jumping back in surprise.

"What's with you all of a sudden?!" Sanji demanded.

Luffy dropped his butterfly net, clearly not having noticed what had happened to Franky. "You bastard!" He leapt forward, trying to grab one of the ghosts, only for it to pass through him like the other one had passed through Franky. Then he ended up collapsing on the ground next to the cyborg. and moaned, "If I get reborn, I want to be a clam...."

Uh...is reincarnation even possible? I didn't think it was....

"What the hell is with the depression?!" Sanji roared.

_ "Horohorohorohoro! Negative. Negative." _

Those ghosts were starting to _really_ get on my nerves...and I was starting to stress out, what with how worried, nervous, and _annoyed_ that I was at once.

"Maybe, when you're touched by those ghosts, your own spirit becomes depressed?" Robin guessed, eyeing the two that hadn't gone after anyone yet.

Sanji gave a short laugh. "No way that's true. These guys are just idiots."

"A weird and freaky ability," I muttered, frowning. Flames started to flicker on my arms. "There's gotta be a weakness to them, though...I wonder if there's a way to keep them away from you."

Zoro snorted. "You guys are so pitiful. Because you can never pull yourselves together, you let some ghost break your spirit."

"They didn't 'let' them, Zoro." I shook my head. "Even if you're the brightest, most optimistic people in the world, those things will still be able to bring you down. The only way to counteract something like that is to have an ability that...I dunno, cancels it out or something."

Or maybe that Berry will be able to protect me somewhat.

Two of those ghosts decided that it was going to test me and Zoro, it seemed, because they went straight for the two of us. It moved so fast that I hardly had time to dodge -- and by the time that I started thinking about dodging, I was getting this extremely cold feeling in my chest.

I guess the Kasib Berry did nothing at all.

The cold feeling spread rather quickly...I felt myself growing numb...happiness and every emotion bright as the sun faded away into nothingness as I felt my knees give out. Nothing seemed to matter.

Then, from out of the blue, I got the most _horrific_ of headaches, and I blacked out as I collapsed.

** Memory Break **

_ The blue light vanishes behind me as I step onto what felt like a mix between sand and solid rock. The sky is a dark, cloudy gray that doesn't look like it is going to rain...but it is still somewhat menacing. _

_ It isn't the gray of the sky that catches my attention, though. It is the gray of the landscape. Twisted, gunmetal gray metal in every direction that I can turn -- huge mountains of it. Occasionally, I see what looks like some kind of glowing blue puddle that seems to be turning to steam...I decide to stay away from those. _

_ I walk forward, being careful for some reason to walk around the twisted metal and the puddles. There's...something about the landscape that makes me feel like I want to cry. _

_ I don't figure out why...until something in my heart tells me what they  _ are.

_ Dead warriors from a battle that happened...and I wasn't there to help fight against it. My  _ friends _didn't have me to help them against the enemy._

_ They're dead...and I'm alone.... _

** Memory Break -- Robin's POV (3rd) **

When the ghost went through Maria, Robin had been expecting the teenager to collapse and say that she was worthless or wanted to be reborn as a useless sea creature or something.

Robin did _not_ expect Maria to freeze up before letting out a cry of anguish...and promptly collapse to the ground like she had lost all control of her limbs. 

Meanwhile, Zoro was in the same state that Franky and Luffy were in, muttering something about feeling sorry that he had been born. Obviously, he had been affected the same way the others had, but Maria...none of them had cried out the way she had.

"Enough already!" Sanji roared at the swordsman while Robin moved over to Maria. The amnesiac seemed to have managed to curl herself up into a ball and was shaking all over...it almost appeared as though she was trying to make herself not be seen by anyone.

Sanji sighed in annoyance, then turned to look over in the archeologist's direction. "Looks like you're right, Rob-- Maria!" The cook dashed over to the side of the collapsed girl instantly. "Don't tell me she got hit too!"

Robin gave Sanji a deadpan expression that told the cook everything that he needed to now about the situation.

The blonde instantly let out a noise that sounded like a panicked whine. "What are we going to do now?"

"My guess is that the effects of the ghosts should wear off eventually," Robin replied in something of a grim tone. "Help me get Maria onto Cerberus' back. We'll probably have to leave her there for a while."

"No problem. I'll take care of it." Sanji started to wrap his arms around Maria's waist as best he could, considering how tightly the teenager had managed to curl up. "Damn those ghosts."

_ "Negative. Negative. Negative. Negative." _

Now there were five of them flying around above their heads. Robin did her best to ignore them as Sanji lifted Maria up off the ground.

"They're difficult enemies," Robin confirmed, nodding. "Not only do they not have a body, but when you get touched, your spirit is crushed emotionally."

"Yeah." Sanji grunted as he managed to push Maria up onto the back of the beast Luffy had tamed. The girl, who had ended up uncurling when Sanji had lifted her, promptly curled up again as soon as she was safely on the back of the dog-monster. She whimpered something, which got a whine out of the fox head in response.

_ "Horohorohorohoro!" _ The ghosts started to fly off, still saying their one-word chant.

"What a strange island...."

"What is it with that kid, anyway?" Sanji frowned curiously at Maria. "She knows stuff that isn't supposed to exist, she's aware of things that we haven't even told her about...I think she mentioned seeing your past back in Enies Lobby." Sanji glanced over at Robin. "At least, that's what Nami-swan said."

Robin gained a grim expression. "She informed me of it when we were still in Water 7. It is a strange ability that she has."

"Yeah...kinda creeps me out a bit, actually -- not that I'd admit that to Maria-san's face, that is. I mean, she keeps talking about creatures that shouldn't exist -- and then she brings up proof that they do. Still haven't met one of those 'Pokemon' things face-to-face, though...gotta wonder how one of those things would taste...."

"You're _not_ gonna eat my friends!"

The yell was so startling that Sanji and Robin jumped a bit, then turned to look over at Cerberus. Maria had managed to get herself up into a sitting position, and she was glaring at the cook fiercely.

"B-besides, th-they may be the only f-friends I have left!" the teenager added. It was clear that she had been crying -- salty tracks of drying tears shone on her cheeks despite the lack of bright light.

Robin and Sanji exchanged glances while, in the background, Luffy and the others started to get to their feet.

"I didn't say that I was going to eat _yours,"_ Sanji pointed out. "I just wondered what a Pokemon-thing could taste like."

Maria's fierce glare held for a moment, but then it morphed into an expression of sorrow. She let out a loud sniffing noise, then buried her head in the fur of Cerberus and whimpered something.

Robin had to do a double-take. For a moment, she thought that Maria had said, "I don't want to lose anyone."

What was it that made her say something like that?

** Time Break -- Maria's POV **

I stayed on Cerberus for a while -- his fur wasn't _quite_ as stiff as I had thought that it was, so long as I stayed away from the stitches and the bandages, at least. What I had seen...I wasn't really sure whether it was a vision or a memory. I hoped it was neither.

Robin was actually more concerned about me than I had expected her to be. I mean, she ended up deciding to sit behind me and looked like she was ready to try to hug me if I looked like I needed it. Sanji had held something of a similar look on his face, but he was keeping himself busy with something else.

Luffy let out what sounded like an angry growl. "Damn those ghosts! The next time you show up, I won't forgive you!"

"They _must_ have a weak point!" Franky was cracking his knuckles, and the look on his face was absolutely nightmarish. "And when I find it, I'll wipe them out!"

Sanji laughed from where he sat near the front of Cerberus. "I saw something funny!"

"SHUT UP!!!" Zoro roared, turning and glaring back at the cook.

Zoro looked like something that had come out of a nightmare of some kind...and he was pretty mad, too, considering that he had veins bulging out of his neck and forehead. I know he got hit about the same time that I was, but...well, let's just say that I didn't see what happened to him, and considering how he was now, I wasn't really planning on asking.

Sanji just laughed at Zoro's response. "Oh, I'm sorry. 'I'm sorry that I was born!'" The cook promptly fell back on his back and laughed even louder, kicking his legs in the air while Cerberus joined in.

Zoro looked absolutely _murderous_ as a result.

I blinked a couple times. "Did Zoro...did he say that?"

"When the ghost went through him, yes," Robin responded, nodding.

"D-did I say anything?" I looked back at the archeologist with a curious cautiousness.

"You cried out like you had been cut through to your soul. If you said anything, I don't think that any of us would have been able to understand it."

Huh? "What do you mean?"

"You whimpered a few times. It almost sounded like the fox head was making the sounds rather than you."

That was a little...unexpected. But, considering what had happened to me before....

"I was probably speaking a specific strain of Vulpix language, then," I commented finally. A frown crossed my face. "Although, usually when that happens, it sounds like someone is saying the name of the creature over and over again...."

I did growl at one point in such a way that I got a look from the fox head, though, I think...what would _that_ mean, though?

Robin hummed, looking curious for a moment. Then she turned her attention over to the others. "Although one could make general guesses about these numbered, patchwork creatures, those ghosts were something entirely different."

Sanji calmed down in his laughing and gained a thoughtful expression. "There was that one on the ship, too. It was almost like it was observing us. The problem is figuring out who's behind it."

"I don't think ghosts like those can be controlled," I commented, shuddering. "If they can be, I don't want to know who's giving the orders. It was creepy enough getting...run through like that." I absently touched my chest -- where the ghost had gone through me -- and gripped at my shirt.

Sanji glanced back at me and gained something of a concerned expression. "You looked like you were having a seizure attack, Maria-san. If we do end up finding someone who can control the ghosts, it might be a good idea if you sat out of that fight."

I nodded in agreement, shuddering again. "I agree with you on that."

We ended up continuing on in silence for a bit, and then the fog started to clear a bit ahead of us as the trees disappeared.

I started to look around again. "Looks like we're in a graveyard of some kind...."

"And it's huge!" Luffy had a bit of a lighter tone to his voice than when he had been roaring in anger a moment ago. "That's some atmosphere!"

"Indeed." Robin eyed the tombstones that were scattered about. "I assume that the Ghost-Type Pokemon you have spoken about so much prefer to reside in places like this?"

"Some of them." I nodded, feeling better now that I was thinking about something I knew. "I've found some other dark areas where they can hide too, though, and since I haven't seen any so far, I doubt that there are any in this area of the world -- considering that you guys hadn't even heard of Pokemon until I mentioned them."

"It may even be possible that they do not exist on this world entirely."

"Huh?" Where did she pull _that_ idea from?

"More and more, I am finding it highly likely that the creatures that you have spoken of from your memories are, in fact, residing on a planet that is a good distance from here."

"Hmm...Luffy won't like that.... Besides, if that's true, then how did I manage to get here? It doesn't make any sense." I scratched my head, not exactly sure as to what it was that could have caused this. I mean...traveling between _planets_? Kinda sounds pretty far-fetched, if you ask me.

I froze and looked at Robin somewhat fearfully. "Besides, wouldn't that make me an _alien?"_

Robin smiled a bit. "Perhaps we will be able to discover your means of travel, as well as your origins, as you recover your memories. After all, you seem to be keeping more secrets from yourself than any of us."

I gave an annoyed hum at that. "Stupid amnesia...."

"Hey! How about we eat our food now?" Luffy looked back at Sanji with a wide grin.

"You idiot, eating it here would only make it taste bad!" Sanji growled from his perch.

"No! Let's eat here -- there's no way that food can taste bad just because of where you eat it!"

"That's what you think!"

I gave an annoyed sigh. "I kinda agree with Sanji...besides, I'm not really feeling all that hungry yet."

Sanji gave me a determined nod in agreement before shooting Luffy a look. "Besides, we still haven't found Nami-swan yet, and I'm not going to eat until we find her."

I was about to say that I at least somewhat agreed with the cook when there came a low moaning noise from somewhere nearby. I stiffened up a bit when I heard that...it sounded like something that I didn't want to really run into.

Luffy turned his head when he heard the noise, frowning. I looked around myself, wondering what exactly it was that was making the noise. At least it was a distraction from the...thing that I had seen when the ghost ran me through.

My ear twitched when I heard what sounded like dirt being pushed around accompanied the moaning, and I turned my head as Luffy started walking.

I blinked once. Twice. Then rubbed my eyes in order to make sure that I was actually seeing what I thought I was seeing.

"Is that...." I trailed off, feeling my jaw drop.

Luffy dropped his butterfly net -- he had picked up all his ghost-hunting gear, even after what had happened -- and he started walking towards the grave that the noise was coming from...as well as the bandaged, rotting figure that was starting to come out of it.

I can say truthfully that I wasn't expecting Luffy to place his hands on the zombie's shoulders and push him back into the ground like it was an everyday occurrence. I didn't expect the zombie to explode out of the ground seconds later, either.

"Like I'd go back down there!" the undead thing roared...surprisingly coherently. "Are you an idiot?!"

"Okay....that's creepy," I stated uneasily, shrinking back a bit. "Anyone have any idea on what exactly to do against something like that?" I noticed that Robin wasn't sitting behind me anymore, and I looked around. Seeing that Robin and Sanji were getting off the dog-monster's back, I decided to join them.

"...An old man with a big wound?" Luffy asked, sounding confused.

What the -- where did he get _that_ idea?!

"Can't you see that it's a zombie?!" Sanji, Zoro, and Franky and I all demanded at once.

"Don't underestimate zombies!" the zombie called out, leaping out of the grave like he had been standing on a trampoline. That seemed to be a battle cry of some kind, because a large _horde_ of them instantly started jumping out of the rest of the graves that were surrounding us.

A look of disgust came over my face, and I brought out my phoenix staff and promptly set the thing on fire. No way was I going to let these things get close enough to me to touch me...they're not human, and they've obviously been _dead_ for a while, even though....

"Are zombies _supposed_ to be this lively?" Sanji asked, frowning.

"I don't think so!" I responded.

"We'll show you the danger of zombies!" one of the monsters roared from the cheering crowd of the undead. They started moving toward us at a slow, loping gait, arms stretched out in front of them and their mouths open...like they couldn't control their jaw muscles.

"Oh, so you want a go, eh?" Luffy grinned as he started to crack his knuckles. "If it's danger, then we can show you some, too!"

"So long as those... _things_ don't get anywhere near enough to touch me," I muttered, spinning my staff a bit. Small Fire Spheres flew off and hovered around the spinning staff like numbers on a clock, and I instinctively remembered a move that I had used a while back.

"Will o' Wisp! Burn, you smelly meatbags!"

Everything kinda got pretty hectic after that.

My fire attack instantly latched onto some of the zombies and started to eat through their rotting clothing and bandages. A couple of them yelled at me for carrying around such a dangerous fire hazard before they were kicked, punched, or grabbed by any one of my other crewmembers.

One zombie that had been missed by the others started to shamble over in my direction. "I'm gonna get that thing away from you before you--"

"Not if I can help it!" My staff instantly switched from fire to snow and ice. "Take this! Ice Shard!"

Huge chunks of the stuff went flying and rammed into the zombie, cutting into the thing's decaying skin and sending it reeling before it collapsed against a tombstone.

"If any of you even so much as _think_ about taking my staff from me, I'm going to make sure that you _stay_ in your graves!" I declared shortly. Since these things were already dead, I had no qualms about burning these monsters to a crisp if I was given the chance.

Didn't seem like I really needed to, though. Luffy and the others ended up making short work of the remaining zombies that didn't move in my direction. I'm glad, personally -- that meant that none of them were going to try and grab me.

Although...I didn't think that zombies were actually _real._ I mean, I'm not screaming my head off at the sight of them -- I just feel some disgust at the sight of them. Meaning that one: I've probably seen and smelled worse things -- and two: these things had to have been artificial -- fakes.

People in disguise, maybe? Or something else?


	6. Gekko Moriah's Zombie Horde

** Maria's POV **

"So, what are you guys all doing out here, huh?" Luffy sat down on a tombstone that looked more like a spike of rock, glaring at the zombies that we had all clobbered. A good number of them were in the back, rolling around on the ground in order to try get rid of the fire that was still burning up their bandages.

"Uh, well...zombie stuff, mostly," one of the zombies in the front of the group muttered. "Y'know -- bein' buried, hanging out, rotting and stuff."

From where I was standing next to Robin and Franky, I had to wonder how exactly it was that zombies could form a coherent sentence like that. When I pictured zombies in my mind, I saw mindless, rotting corpses that essentially bit people and spread their own kind like a disease. These...were like a more mild version of that. They still stank, sure, but it didn't look like they were necessarily rotting to pieces at this point.

"Yeah, pretty much," another zombie added quickly.

"Yup, same here," added a third.

Makes me wonder if they're hiding something.

Luffy seemed to think the same thing. He lowered his head, hiding his eyes under the brim of his straw hat. "You're not lying to me, are you?"

The three zombies responded defensively, waving their bandaged hands in front of them like it might be able to ward off something. "No, really! That's the truth -- we swear!"

"I see...then let me ask you something. Did a man with a long nose, a woman with orange hair, and a reindeer that looks like a raccoon-dog come through here?"

"I don't think I'll ever be able to understand what makes people think that Chopper's a raccoon," I muttered, frowning. Robin made a humming noise, but didn't offer anything else.

"Oh, yeah. Right." One of the zombies shifted a bit. "Well, we _may_ have seen them, but we're not supposed ta...."

May have seen them? I blinked a couple times when I heard that.

"Sorry, we can't say." Another one picked up when the first one trailed off.

"Yeah," spoke up a third. "We're all under specific orders to not share information about stuff like that with anyone. Sorry about that."

"Yeah," added a fourth. "We have our orders."

_ That _ brought up a chant from all the zombies. "Orders! Orders!"

I was starting to get a bit irritated. These zombies were more annoying than terrifying, and it _really_ made no sense to me. Undead monsters were not supposed to act like they had brains. They technically weren't supposed to work _at all_ after someone had keeled over.

"Oh, I see. So, you're not gonna tell me, huh?" Luffy started cracking his knuckles. He could, surprisingly enough, be a pretty good interrogator when he wanted to be.

The chant faded out, and the three zombies that had spoken up first said rather quickly, "I mean, yeah, we saw them!"

Ha! I thought I had heard them say something like that earlier!

"These zombies are wimps," Zoro muttered.

"Can't argue with that," I responded. "Not to mention they're nearly completely brainless."

That got a grunt and a smirk from the swordsman, but he quickly regained a more serious expression.

Luffy jumped off the tombstone. "Those guys are a part of my crew. You didn't do anything to them, did you?"

The zombies suddenly looked a little nervous.

"W-wait -- they're on _your_ crew?" one of them asked.

A zombie with (oddly enough) _red_ skin _popped his head off_ and held it above the rest of his body _._ The action was really creepy -- definitely not natural, either. "We didn't do anything to them -- I swear!"

"Right," another agreed. "We did nothing at all!"

That started yet _another_ chant. "Nothing at all! Nothing at all!"

I could feel my temperature rising a bit as flames started to lick at my arms and my shoulders. "This isn't helping us...I feel like I should just turn the lot of these undead freaks into a mass funeral pyre so that we can move on and find them sooner."

Zoro started smirking again; he looked almost demonic.

"I want the truth, right now." Luffy didn't sound like he wanted to wait around for much longer, either.

"This guy did something." One of the zombies pointed at the guy who could pull off his head and put it back on.

"Hey! Shut up, tattle tail! And anyway, you're the one that bit 'em!"

_ What?! _

"Actually, we all did," a third zombie stated weakly.

"IDIOT!" A number of the zombies dogpiled the one who had spoken. "Shut up!"

They _bit_ _them?_ If they haven't turned into zombies themselves by now, then I'm only going to count them lucky on that.

My phoenix staff was promptly set on fire, and the Will o' Wisps started to appear again around me. Definitely going to get them turned into a funeral pyre.

The others seemed to think the same thing -- Robin got ready to use her Devil Fruit, while Luffy and Franky cracked their knuckles in preparation for the beat-down.

Which we promptly gave them.

** Time Break -- a few minutes later **

"Looks like they ran out of here and headed to that mansion up ahead," Luffy finally commented as the last zombie was stuck head-first into the ground. The zombie stopped yelling about his head being on fire a couple seconds later. "I'm glad they're all right...but I'm not so sure about Brook, though."

I gave a humming noise in response, glad that I was able to help pound the information out of the zombies the old-fashioned way. I have to admit, I'm glad that those three weren't taken out by the zombies in the graveyard...but there was still something about that mansion that reminded me of a Pokemon Graveyard -- maybe it was just the general air of the island itself.

"He's probably fine; don't worry about him." Sanji waved off Luffy's concern for the talking skeleton.

"Let's find the others." Zoro started forward, towards the open gates at the other side of the graveyard. The rest of us moved after him, and we soon left the zombies behind and entered what looked like the forest again.

"Man those zombies were a lame bunch of weaklings," Luffy commented, making his way to the front of our group.

"Pounding their sorry faces in doesn't even count as a warm-up," Franky said dryly.

"Still, this is no time to let your guard down," Zoro spoke up. "You never know when someone a whole lot stronger than those guys is gonna show up."

"Yeah." I nodded, fingering my phoenix staff. "I mean, this entire island feels like some kind of...I dunno, Halloween-only island or something. Like the creatures and monsters that live here are built for scaring wimps to death."

The comment got me a weird look from Luffy. "Halloween?"

It took me a moment to notice the look I was getting. "Um...it's a festival of some kind where people dress up in costumes and play tricks on each other for a good scare. It's usually on the last day of October."

"An interesting festival," Robin remarked. "And an interesting notion."

"Huh." Sanji blinked a couple times before looked over at Zoro and grinned widely. "Hey, wait -- you're not getting scared, are you? Gonna cry?"

"Up yours!" Zoro glared at Sanji. I winced a bit at the implied swear. "I'm not scared! A swordsman is never scared!"

Um...I'm not so sure about that....

"We'll see about that," Sanji sent an equally angry glare back at Zoro.

"Come on! You wanna piece of me?!" Zoro rammed his head into Sanji's, and the two started pushing back and forth against each other.

"Wait! Please! Stop -- hold on a minute!"

Now _that_ was a voice that I hadn't heard before. And it sounded like it was coming from somewhere behind us, too....

Zoro and Sanji stopped fighting as the lot of us glanced back to see who it was that was shouting. I blinked a couple times out of curiosity when a figure emerged from the trees, panting -- he had probably ended up running after us...whoever he was.

I frowned, cautious of the fact that another zombie could have decided to run after us. Did this one want to lead us into a trap?

"I saw you fight those zombies," the figure wheezed -- sounded like an old man. "All o' ya have such unbelievable strength. There's something I'd like to talk to you about -- would you please listen?" He raised the lantern he was holding...and I had to admit, I ended up flinching back a bit when I saw the face the old man had hiding under his hat.

"An old man with serious injuries?" Luffy asked.

"We told you -- they're zombies!" Zoro, Sanji, and Franky barked at once.

I gripped my staff a little more tightly, wondering if even more zombies were going to come out of the woodwork -- literally, since we were standing in a forest, now.

"Actually...he's right on the money," the man with the lantern wheezed.

"What?" I blinked a couple times out of surprise.

"That's too confusing! Can't you just be a zombie?! Geez!" Seemed the boys were surprised by that, too.

"All right." Luffy moved towards the man, then stopped a few feet away from him and crossed his arms over his chest. "So what did you want to tell us?'

The man dropped to his knees and placed the lantern on the dirt road. He must have been more tired than I had originally thought. "There is an evil man that must be brought down, and I think that you kids are strong enough to do it. He's left a trail of victims in his wake, and if you defeat him, they'll all be rescued."

"Victims?" I repeated. What did he mean by that? And who was the man that this guy was talking about?

"If you'd help me get my shadow back, I'd be ever so grateful!"

Get his sha--wait a sec. I looked down at the lantern...and noticed that the man didn't have a shadow underneath him.

_ Just like Brook. _

"Your shadow?" Sanji repeated in surprise.

"Hold on -- did we just find another guy who had his shadow stolen?" Franky asked.

"Yeah!" I nodded, pointing at the ground beneath the old man's feet while Luffy moved forward into a crouch. "Look!"

"Damn, that sucks," Zoro muttered. "So who's the guy who did that to you?"

"That's what I'd like to know," I piped up in agreement.

"Is he here?" the swordsman pressed. "Somewhere on this island?"

The old man brought one of his hands into a fist, making small tracks in the path with his fingers. His body seemed to shake, and I wondered if it took a lot of strength just to say the word of the shadow thief.

"Mor...Moriah."

Robin gave a small gasp, and I gave the archeologist a curious look. She didn't look back at me, though, because the old man continued to speak.

"His name is Moria, and he's terrifying."

"Moria!" The way Robin said the name...it sounded like she recognized it. And she didn't necessarily like the person who owned the name. She moved forward a bit -- maybe so that the old man could see her. "You don't mean Gekko Moriah by any chance?"'

Gekko? Who has the name of a lizard in their own name?

The old man let out a gasp. "That's right -- that's him."

Luffy got up and turned to look at Robin. "Robin, do you know this guy?"

"Yes." Robin sounded _really_ grim. "But only by name. And if I remember correctly, his former bounty was even higher than yours, Luffy."

" _Former_ bounty?" I wasn't necessarily sure what _that_ meant, but I hoped it didn't mean anything bad for us.

"Wait." Sanji turned to face Robin with a serious and slightly nervous expression on his face. "So that means--"

"Yes. Gekko Moriah is one of the Seven Warlords."

I did a double-take when I heard Robin say that. "Wait -- aren't those the guys who are sponsored by the government?" Thank you Nami for filling me in on what exactly was going on when I couldn't remember it.

"Are you sure? Really?" Luffy sounded somewhat anxious.

Robin gave a shaky nod. "Yes. Gekko Moriah is a man of many mysteries."

Franky turned to look at the old man. "But...what's a big shot like that doing in a dump hole like this?"

"Good question," I muttered, thinking back to what Nami had explained about the "Seven Warlords." She hadn't been able to fill me in on any of the identities of the Seven -- she didn't know all of them -- but Usopp had told me about the Warlords that they had run into on their journey.

"Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk -- the man who's been called the World's Greatest Swordsman...and the man that Zoro hopes to defeat. Considering that Mihawk is the one who gave him that scar...I wouldn't blame him for it.

"Sir" Crocodile -- the man with the Sand Sand Devil Fruit, who Luffy had defeated on a desert island early on in the Grand Line.

And now, the shadow-stealing Gekko Moriah...oh, boy.

"I'm not sure, exactly," the old man stated, bringing me out of my thoughts. "But I can tell you that he's left behind many victims -- most of which are wandering around lost in this very forest!"

"Just how many is 'many'?" Zoro asked, frowning.

"Who knows? The fact that you were all invited here as well means that Moriah is out to get you too! No doubt about it...."

I blinked a couple times. There was something about that man's statement....

Zoro seemed to pick up on it, too. "Invited? But we weren't--" He paused, and a frown came over his face. "I see...."

See what? I still wasn't exactly sure what it was that the old man meant. Did it have something to do with something that happened before we arrived--

Wait. That barrel with the flare! That must be what the old man means!

The old man started crying. "We hide in this dark forest, scared of the zombies and the other creatures here! We can't head out to sea because we'd be exposed to the sun. With this body weak and the way it is, it's hard to find the will to keep on living."

I flinched a bit at that. To have a life without being able to touch the sun...and living in a place where it was Halloween Central 24/7...well, it's not my idea of paradise, that's for sure!

"Just once before I die, I want to be able to walk under the sun -- to feel its warmth on my skin!" The old man started to move forward, reaching for the lantern. "Just one more time."

The man's hand slipped on the lantern, sending it rolling around on the path in a circle. It caused our shadows to shift around a bit as a result, and...I have to admit, the information that I had just been given made me freak out a bit.

A shudder was passing through me when Luffy suddenly reached out and grabbed the lantern. I admit, I jumped a bit -- I hadn't heard Luffy move back into a crouch.

Franky started bawling. Loudly. "What a touching story! You've been through so much! Such a heart wrenching story! But I'm not crying -- got it?!"

"Yeah. Sure, Franky." I rolled my eyes at the cyborg.

"Come on, you big crybaby," Zoro grumbled. "You're way too compassionate about this kind of stuff."

"Enough of this." Sanji pointed at the old man. "Hey, creepy grandpa! Only ladies can persuade using their tears! Show a little backbone, will ya?"

"Sanji!" I turned sharply to glare at the cook. "Leave him alone -- don't say anything like that until you've possibly been in _his_ shoes!"

That comment got me a weird look from Zoro, and a strange feeling going down my spine. Something told me that I might end up eating those words....

"Well, you're in luck," Luffy finally stated. "We're already looking for a guy that steals shadows, and I'm pretty sure that he's the one." He started to rise out of his crouch. "If he's coming after us, then that just makes things easier."

"Easier?" I blinked a couple times as an incredulous look came over my face. "If we're going to rescue a shadow while also making sure that we can keep our own, I don't see how that's going to make things easier."

"I'm gonna kick his ass, and if that saves you while we're at it, that's fine by me. Okay?" Obviously, Luffy didn't hear a word of what I had said.

"That's very kind of you!" The old man clearly sounded relieved. "Thank you! You've given me new hope!"

"We can't thank you enough!"

"We're counting on you!"

"Yeah -- tear Moriah a new one!"

I jumped when I heard the voices, and I looked around a bit. There were figures standing just off the path, hiding behind trees. More people who had their shadows stolen?

"What the hell?" Sanji turned to look at the forest. "The other victims, huh? It's not polite to eavesdrop."

"Oh! Sorry about that, Mr. Freaky Curly-Eyebrows Guy."

I sighed and shook my head while Sanji fumed.

"That's a crappy way to apologize!"

Luffy laughed. It didn't seem like he was too bothered by all of this.

Still...someone stealing shadows...what exactly were they being used for?

"Well, come on, guys." Luffy turned and looked at the rest of us. "Let's head over to that mansion. We can meet up with the others and then kick Moriah's ass!"

"Sounds good to me," Zoro commented, grinning widely.

I hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement. There was something about all of this that was making me feel uneasy, but I didn't know if that was because of the ghost that ran me through, or just the overall feel of the island. I would have stopped and thought about it, but...well, Luffy was planning on taking on Moriah, so we weren't going to be sticking around for very long.

We started moving forward again, leaving the old man and the other victims behind. As we went, I decided that now would be as good a time as ever to actually eat something -- keep my strength up for the fight ahead. So, I fished the box of food out of my satchel and opened it up, eating it as we walked. It took me a moment to figure out how to use the chopsticks, but I was able to manage.

I'd nearly finished it off when a drop of water landed in the box.

"Rain?" Luffy glanced up.

It didn't take too long for it to really start coming down.

"Man, that sure came from out of nowhere," Zoro commented.

I grabbed the orange hood that was attached to my jacket and flipped it up over my head, stuffing the empty box back into my satchel before zipping up. I saw Robin holding her backpack over her head while Franky held one of his arms over his own.

"It's really coming down," the cyborg commented. "Do we run for the mansion?"

"Hang on a sec," Luffy responded.

"For what?" I looked over at my captain curiously.

"I see something behind the mansion." Luffy frowned a bit. "It looks like some kind of mark."

"A mark?" I looked back ahead of us. We were nearly at the mansion -- just another set of gates and we'd be there -- so Luffy had to have stopped us for some reason....

"The rain's clearing the fog," Zoro commented. "I think I can see it." A frown flickered over his face. "Is that...a flag?"

I blinked a couple times to get the rain out of my eyes, then frowned a bit in order to try and see what it was that Zoro had just spotted. It took me a moment to see what looked almost like a skull, which almost seemed to be hovering in the middle of the air.

Franky spoke up. "No...I think that's a...a sail."

"What?" We all looked over at Franky with expressions of surprise, and I did a double-take on the mark. My frown deepened when I noticed that there was this large black _thing_ that the mark was on, and it was a darker color than the fog and the sky...which were almost a purplish color.

"Yes, you're right."

I practically jumped out of my shoes when I heard the voice behind us, and I turned...only to see the old man with the lantern standing there.

"Why are you still following us?!" Zoro, Franky, Sanji, and I demanded at once.

"Right about what?" Luffy asked, turning and looking at the old man curiously.

"Like he said, what you see is a sail of gigantic proportion," the man explained. "It's so large that seeing the entire thing at once is quite difficult."

"But why would an island need a sail like that?" I asked.

"Thriller Bark is not the island it appears to be. Believe it or not, it's actually the world's largest pirate ship!"

"A _what?!"_ I couldn't quite believe my ears.

"This whole island is a pirate ship?" Sanji repeated. I noticed that he hadn't taken the time to try and relight the cigarette that was in his mouth.

"The largest one in the world?" Zoro was obviously trying to wrap his head around all this, too.

"Awesome!!"

Of course Luffy would be the one to say that.

"I get it." Franky pushed Luffy back a bit. "So, Thriller Bark, huh? A 'bark' is a type of sailing ship with three or more masts."

"Then...the 'thriller' part probably comes from all the monsters around here," I noted, thinking back to my previous Halloween comment. I couldn't help but hear some kind of song in the back of my mind, too, and some kind of dancing group making zombie-like movements.

"What do you mean?" Sanji gave me a curious look.

"Well, people sometimes go and do things for the thrill of it," I remarked. "On Halloween, I've known a lot of people who have gone to fake haunted houses because they want the thrill of being scared. They'd really get that here, that's for sure."

"But..." Franky paused. "It's hard to believe that this entire island is some sort of boat."

"The back of the mansion is where you'll find the main mast," the old man explained, pointing towards the building that we were heading for. "It's also the home of Gekko Moriah."

Oh, great. I know where we're headed next.

I was about to let out a resigned sigh because of what we were going to do next...but then I jumped a bit when I heard what sounded like a bell tolling from the mansion behind me. On a whim, I started counting the tolls.

_ One...Two...Three...Four...Five...Six...Seven...Eight...Nine...Ten...Eleven...Twelve _

"It's midnight," I spoke aloud. I shuddered a bit. "Also known as the Witching Hour. What a time to start heading in there."

Luffy glanced over at me and blinked a couple times. Then he walked over to the black iron gates that separated us from the mansion. He promptly pushed them open wide.

"Well, here we go." He looked up at what was ahead of us. "To the ghost mansion!"

"Here we go" indeed....


	7. The Haunted Mansion

** Maria's POV **

As we walked past the gate and entered the mansion's grounds, I couldn't help but look around to make sure that we weren't being followed in secret by zombies -- or that we weren't going to get jumped by any. The place looked -- and felt -- a little like the Chateau in Eterna Forest. Except, this place felt older, looked even worse than the Chateau, was _bigger,_ and probably didn't have any electronics for a Pokemon like Rotom to hide in.

"Where's the door?" Luffy muttered, frowning up at the stone building in front of us.

"Hmmm...." Robin looked up, seeming to eye the strange window that was on the highest tower of the mansion. "In old mansions such as this one, I should think that the entrance would be right in front of us." She pointed ahead to the slit that seemed to go through the building. "We may find our entrance there."

"Robin-chwan is so smart!" Sanji cooed.

I shuddered a bit. Yes, I was kind of getting used to Sanji's antics involving women, but that didn't mean that I _liked_ it very much.

Luffy started towards the passage that Robin had pointed out, the rest of us following after him. I fingered the Cleanse Tags still tied around my wrist, wondering if they were really as much of a help as I had previously thought that they were. I mean, they didn't really drive off those Negative Ghosts...maybe it's because they aren't Pokemon or something like that...

It didn't take too long to find the door that Robin had been talking about. It was a pretty big one, too -- and it had what looked like a well right next to it for some reason.

"Hello?" Luffy knocked on the door a couple times, then looked around and shrugged. "Nobody's here, so I guess I'm just going to go in."

Leave it to Luffy to barge in uninvited -- not that we really have to worry about that kind of thing at this point, considering that this "Gekko Moriah" guy invited us....

"Hey, give 'em a minute," Sanji muttered.

The comment was promptly ignored. I have to wonder if Luffy siphons everything he hears so that he forgets everything except for what exactly he considered to be important.

Luffy tried the door, yanking on the handle a couple times before a frown flickered across his face. "Huh, it's locked."

"Well, how are we--"

I didn't get to finish my question, because Luffy pulled back a fist and punched through the door.

"Well, I guess that answers my question." I rubbed the back of my head, letting out a sigh at my captain's antics.

Luffy pushed open the door and started walking into the mansion. "Hey, now it opens."

"Yeah, since you smashed the lock off," Zoro commented dryly as he followed Luffy in.

The rest of us filed in after the swordsman, entering what kind of looked like an entry hall of some kind. There was a generally creepy air to it, considering that there were pictures all over the walls...and they didn't necessarily do anything to brighten the room. In fact, I could swear that some of the eyes of the paintings were following me....

Luffy raised his fists into the air. "Gekko Moriah! I'm here to kick your ass!"

There was no answer -- not even an echo.

"Creepy-looking entryway," Franky commented, looking the room up and down as we came to a stop.

"I'll say." I eyed the red walls with an expression of distaste. I like the color red -- there's no way I'd ever say that there was anything _wrong_ with it -- but there was just something about all the bricks being painted that color that just didn't sit well with me. It looked too...gaudy, for an old haunted mansion, I guess.

"I like the color of the walls, but putting it here just sets off too many warning bells," I added. "Like they painted it with blood or something...."

Robin gave me a curious, intrigued look, then chuckled. "What an active imagination you have, Maria."

It was kinda odd, though, that there was what looked like a table that had been completely flipped upside down -- not to mention the chairs and unlit candles that were scattered all over the place. The chandelier was missing the exact number of candles that were scattered all over the floor...I wonder what happened in here?

"Doesn't look like anybody's here." Zoro frowned slightly, arms folded across his chest.

"Hey!" Luffy started moving. "Any monsters in here? Gekko Moriah!"

The rest of us followed after him, and I made sure that I had my staff out just in case we ended up getting jumped by something. It almost felt like the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end.

"Shouldn't there be a servant or something around here?" Zoro's frown deepened as he looked around the room. "There's gotta be tons of them with a mansion this size."

"Considering what we ran into out _there,_ I'm not exactly sure that I want to see what sort of service they have in _here."_ I made motions at where we came in and the room we were standing in. That should have been more than enough to prove my point.

"And what's with the mess?" Sanji eyed the overturned table. "Did they have a fight in here or what?"

A good question....

"They had better not have hurt Nami," the cook added.

I rolled my eyes. And there's his obsession with women again.

There came some snorting laughter from somewhere above us, and I looked up sharply; everyone else was a little slower to look up. I guess they were kinda used to hearing unfamiliar voices or something.

The lot of us came to a stop in front of a wall, and to the right of a fireplace that looked like it could hold a bonfire easily. I still was a bit jumpy and nervous -- especially considering what it was that was laughing.

"You're quite audacious, aren't you?" asked the pig head that was pinned to the wall. "Those who know our master usually know to fear him."

"Your master...?" I frowned a bit at that. It was creepy enough that the taxidermy was talking, but that it called a Warlord its _master_?

"Why is there a pig sticking out of the wall?" Luffy asked, frowning.

"What I want to know is how that thing can talk," I muttered.

"Oh, we have many surprises yet to come," the pig head continued. "Why don't we welcome our guests, gentlemen?"

And that's when things got _really_ creepy.

The figures in the paintings suddenly started to move, and they somehow managed to extend out of the paintings like some kind of jack-in-the-box. I mean it, too -- and none of these zombies seemed to have any feet, either!

There came a roaring noise from below us, and I let out a yelp of surprise when the white bear rug suddenly _came to life_ and rose up -- but it still remained really flat.

The thought passed through my head that all these things were only able to come to life every night because of something in the mansion, but that didn't do anything to dispel my worry or concern.

"Well, that's great." Sanji was practically radiating sarcasm. "Are these paintings zombies, too?"

"That's certainly what it looks like," Robin agreed. "After everything that we've seen on this island, we should be expecting this sort of thing by now."

"Speak for yourself," I muttered, feeling nervous about the whole thing. "I haven't seen a Pokemon that can mimic _paintings_ before -- possess _appliances_ , yes, but this is an entirely different ball game." I gripped my phoenix staff in both hands, wondering if I should start setting off Will o' Wisps again in order to drive the zombies off. At this point, all it looked like they were doing was hovering in the air and moaning. Were they trying to scare us or something?

Luffy looked like he was enjoying himself -- which, by now, I was starting to wonder if there _was_ anything that could terrify him.

"I've had enough of this." Sanji jumped into the air and promptly slammed a zombie across the face with one of his feet. "Where did you hide Nami?!"

The zombie was slammed back into itself and rammed into the painting it had come out of. At the exact same time, I heard a screeching noise, so I turned around.

"Screaming like that isn't very lady-like," Robin commented, ready to deploy her Devil Fruit abilities on a screaming woman from one of the portraits. "A shame, since you're so pretty."

Pretty? I gave a snort. There's no way that a zombie could be considered "pretty."

"Raar!"

I turned sharply and slammed my staff down on the head of the zombie that had just announced its presence. I heard bones cracking as Robin did her work, and I set my staff on fire, letting the energy spread to the zombie.

This got a resounding shriek from the undead monster, and it pulled away from me rather quickly. "Don't get too close to the girl! She's a fire hazard!"

The picture zombies and the bear rug promptly gave me a wide berth, going after the other members of my crew. And that was just fine with me.

"Stop stop stop!" came a yelping noise from somewhere near Frankie's position. "Who are you guys?!"

"Are you in the same crew as those cowards from before?!" spoke up another voice.

"Yup!" Franky kinda sounded like he was snarling. I turned to look to see what was going on with the cyborg right when he slammed the heads of two zombies together. Served them right.

Three zombies suddenly shot past me, and I turned my head to see what was going on. I easily caught sight of Zoro preparing to use one of his attacks.

"Two Sword Style...Nigiri!"

"Eh? Nigiri?" One of the zombie heads started drooling. "What is that? Some kind of sushi? Gimme some!"

I snorted a bit. Where did _that_ idea come from?

"Open wide!" Zoro dashed forward and sliced through the three zombies, sending them flying in different directions.

"I guess I was wrong," one of them moaned. Since it was coming right at me, I raised my staff and somehow managed to stop the undead thing from going any further. Considering that it had just been flung by Zoro...I couldn't help but wonder where exactly all my strength was coming from.

Ah, well -- have to put that thought aside until after all of this is over and done with. I set fire to the zombie's clothes -- sending it flying and screaming in terror -- then turned to see how everyone else was faring.

Luffy ran past me, laughing. "Wow, this island's like a party everywhere you go!"

I had to facepalm when I saw that he was being chased by the giant flat bear, who seemed to have a hard time with actually hitting my rubbery captain.

"You -- little -- twerp!" Every swipe at Luffy was punctuated by a word, but it soon degraded into growls while Luffy continued to laugh.

The bear rug continued roaring as it tried to slam its paws into Luffy in order to crush him into the ground, but there was no way that Luffy was going to stay still. He jumped on the rug, off the rug, and started running towards us as the bear continued chasing and roaring in anger.

I didn't like the fact that it was coming towards us, so I started swinging my staff around, ready to fire off a Fire Sphere and burn away the zombie's fur. Again -- it's not technically alive, so my moral code of "no killing" didn't hold here.

Luffy landed in front of me and started to stretch his arms out. "Relax, Maria -- I've got this."

"Eh?" I blinked a couple times, slowing my swinging and letting the fire dissipate. "Uh...if you say so."

Luffy started running towards the rug. "It's too bad -- if you hadn't tried to smash me, I would have asked you to join my crew!" He leapt up and slammed his hands into the rug's face. "Gum Gum Bazooka!"

I blinked a couple times, watching as the rug slammed into the wall. I couldn't help but wonder what Luffy was thinking, asking a zombie _bear rug_ to join the crew? I doubt that it would work too well with the ship's decor...not to mention I don't know how it'll feel about getting stepped on.

Aw, who am I kidding? It's undead -- who knows how much nerve damage it's had?

"N-no!" came a whimpering voice from above -- probably the pig, since I haven't seen him come down yet. "Not the bear rug!"

Luffy started walking away from the rug, which had been embedded in the wall. "Well, that takes care of that."

"Hold on." Franky glared up at the pig as the rest of us gathered near the cyborg. "Not just yet. We've still got that little piggy up there."

The creature started to laughing nervously. I wondered what exactly we were going to do with that thing.

Robin's arms sprouted up from the wall and moved the pig down from his perch, revealing that he really _was_ a full pig -- he just had his head and front hooves stuck through an ornate-looking board of some kind.

"All right, little piggy. One of those zombies mentioned three cowards. They're members of our crew, and we're kinda looking for them." Franky eyed the pig with a glare; I wondered how piercing his eyes would be if he removed his sunglasses.

The pig looked extremely nervous at the question. "Oh, those three friends of yours? We fed them, bathed them, and gave them a warm bed to sleep in. G-good news, right? So we're all friends?"

"Like we're gonna fall for that," Franky responded shortly.

"No, I swear I'm not lying to you!" the pig exclaimed. "Why don't you see for yourself? Go right up those stairs, go ahead!" He chuckled a bit, and it almost sounded like he was snorting.

I expected Sanji to come over and knock the pig on the head in order to get the truth out about "Nami-swan," but I didn't hear anything from the cook. Confused, I started to look around the room...but he was nowhere to be found.

"Something's wrong here," Franky and I spoke up at once. The two of us exchanged glances while Zoro and Robin gave us confused look.

"Sanji's missing," I stated grimly. The cyborg nodded in agreement.

"Huh?" Luffy turned his head, putting a hand on top of his straw hat. "He was here just a second ago." He looked down at the collapsed figures on the floor. "Any of you zombie guys see where he went?"

We got snickers in response to the question. I summoned a couple Will O' Wisps and let them circle around me like at perpendicular orbits.

"You'd better say something, or else I'm going to really turn one of you into a fire hazard," I growled.

One of the zombies looked up sharply when they heard that. "We didn't see anything! I swear! We were getting knocked around by all of you, remember?"

The zombie was _probably_ telling the truth...but I didn't like the fact that there was a wide grin on his face while he was speaking.

"They must have nabbed him and taken him away when we weren't looking," Zoro commented, frowning at some of the still-giggling zombies. The swordsman shook his head. "Good-bye, Sanji. Rest in piece."

I was tempted to knock Zoro over the head for that last part, but he was right -- we weren't exactly watching each other when the zombies started attacking. While some of us were holding our own -- or being avoided like the plague, in my case -- Sanji must have been grabbed from behind.

"It's not cool," Franky muttered.

"It's no biggie," Luffy stated somewhat dismissively. All the same, he had a bit of a frown on his face. "It's Sanji -- he's gonna be fine."

"Maybe," Robin spoke up. "But I'm worried about the other three. If the zombies were able to kidnap Sanji so easily, I'm sure they're in a lot of trouble right now."

"If Sanji _was_ here, he'd probably kick all these zombies for kidnapping Nami," I muttered. "Maybe even use that Diablo Jamble technique he used against that wolf-man in Enies Lobby."

That got me a few nods of agreement, but the pig started laughing again, and we all turned our attention back on the undead taxidermy.

"You're not so strong. The fact of the matter is, you hardly put a dent in our numbers."

I started to frown out of worry at the pig's comment. "Hardly a dent" probably meant that there were a lot more zombies in the mansion than there had been out in the graveyard.

"Oh?" Franky asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You, on the other hand, just lost one of your key fighters! I wonder who's next?"

Robin started talking again. "At any rate, let's be careful and try to stick together from now on."

"Sounds good to me." I nodded a bit in agreement.

The pig kept going. "Admit it, you're scared! You don't stand a--"

"I suppose we could threaten him." Robin was talking right over the pig's confident statements. "But even if we did, I doubt that he would tell us where they are."

"Fine." Zoro looked over at the pig. "We'll just drag him with us and use him as a guide."

"WHAAAT?!"

I smirked a bit at the pig's reaction, glad that he wasn't expecting it. However, I did stiffen a bit when I heard the zombies start snickering again. I turned when one of them started cackling.

"Yes, guide them!" one of the zombies exclaimed, grinning like a hyena.

"H-hey now! Come on!" The pig was clearly unhappy with his present situation.

"Go ahead," continued another zombie. "If you want to challenge our master, go ahead and do it -- it's your funeral."

The first zombie who had spoken started up again. "He's so frightening. It's even terrifying to speak his name! Here, let me try -- Ge-kko-Mor -- gaah! Just as I thought. It's too scary."

Seriously? I raised an eyebrow. "That's like saying that Voldemort is a name you don't want to say."

Wait...where did that name come from?

"Voldemort?" Robin gave me a curious look. "Another memory?"

I frowned a bit, trying to backtrack through my brain to where I picked the name up. "Um...I think I read it in a work of fiction somewhere...."

A third zombie giggled weakly. "That's right! Our master's one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, you know!"

"Those missing friends of yours are probably dead -- or even worse!" came a fourth zombie's two cents.

"I hope not," I muttered.

"Consider yourselves lucky that you lost so few. I'd save my own skin, if I were you. If you face Gekko Mor -- I-I mean, if you face our master, none of you will survive. You'd do well to leave before you incur his wrath."

Well, that doesn't sound promising.

Luffy started moving towards the zombies. "Sorry, but I don't take advice from paintings. You wanna help, give a message to that stupid master of yours."

_ That _ got a reaction out of the zombies -- they looked like they were having a pretty bad panic attack as Luffy stomped down on a piece of wood that looked like it used to belong to a picture frame.

"Tell him that if he lays a finger on any of my friends, I'll kick his ass so hard that this whole island will split in half."

The zombies gasped. I simply grinned, remembering what had happened at Enies Lobby.

"Sanji's fine, it's not like he's going to roll over and die." Luffy started walking, picking his nose as he went. "Come on guys." He started heading towards the stairs, the rest of us following after him.

I heard what sounded like a panicked yelp, and I glanced back at Franky in order to see what it was that he was doing.

"Hold on -- you're not really taking me along, are you?" asked the panicking piece of taxidermy that Franky had thrown over one shoulder. "Say something, you guys!"

None of us decided to give him an answer -- and apparently, neither did the zombies. Within moments, we had left the trashed entry hall behind, and we were now entering into what looked really more like a castle than a mansion...especially considering the torches lining the walls.

I let my Will O' Wisp dissipate, figuring that the torchlight would be enough for now. If the zombies decided to make it dark in order to try and take more of us, though, I would be more than willing to flare up in a pinch.


	8. We're missing our swordsman!

** Maria's POV **

"I bet that old guy was right," Franky commented as we walked down a darkened hallway. "Moriah's been watching us this whole time. We're going to have to watch for traps -- I mean, we're already missing about half of our crew."

"Kind of why we have the little bobbing balls of fire." I had my Will O' Wisps out again to help light the area; a couple were circling me, but I'd managed to get a couple others to hover next to Robin and Luffy to light our way, and one next to Zoro. Of course, Luffy had oohed and aahed a bit when I had sent one over to him, but he had stopped doing that a moment later -- considering our situation and all. Robin seemed interested in my new technique, and Zoro...well, he seemed to be trying to ignore it.

"Wouldn't surprise me if Moriah was trying to split us up," Franky added. The comment got a snicker from the taxidermy pig that he was holding in front of him.

I was really tempted to set that thing on fire, but the others were pretty sure that he would work as a decent guide. Robin promised that when he stopped being useful, though, I could turn the undead zombie into a mini bonfire, so there was that.

"Probably just Sanji's fault," Zoro commented from where he was walking next to me. "He is pretty dumb. Still, can't believe that we found one of the Warlords all the way out here."

"My question is, what are we going to do when one of _our_ shadows gets stolen?" Franky asked.

Robin hummed a bit, looking at the taxidermy in Franky's hands. "Well, that _would_ be interesting."

"Don't look at me -- I'm not squealing!"

I let out a groan at the pig's comment. "Seriously? Zombies smart enough to know about _puns?"_

"I know I promised that old guy I'd beat up Moriah," Luffy suddenly commented, "but maybe that should be second on the list. Gotta look out for my crew first."

I nodded in agreement, but then I sent a glare up at the pig when it started to chuckle and snort, sounding amused.

"I can't tell you where your friends are, but wherever it is, they're in for a world of pain," the pig said slyly. "But I wouldn't worry about them -- you're not much better off yourself. You'll see." He started chuckling again.

Huh? What exactly did that mean?

I saw Luffy move over and slam a fist into something -- probably the pig's face. "All right, Wall Pig -- stop oinking and start guiding. Got it?"

"Y-yes sir."

I snickered a bit. "Looks like Luffy's got that thing pretty well handled, right, Zoro?"

I didn't get an answer, so I paused and looked over at the swordsman...who had stopped a couple feet back.

"Zoro? What's up?"

The others turned and glanced back.

"Something wrong?" Franky raised an eyebrow.

Zoro frowned a bit, still looking at the darkened corridor behind us. After a moment, he shook his head. "Nah...it's just my imagination."

I frowned a bit out of concern, wondering what it was that Zoro could have noticed. The swordsman seemed to notice, because he gave me one of those annoyed looks of his.

"Really, it's probably nothing," Zoro insisted.

...I didn't know whether to trust him or not, but considering that Zoro was the more experienced out of the two of us when it came to fighting and whatnot....

"...well, if you say so." I sent a nervous look back behind us, then started moving after the others, who were already a short distance down the hall. "What was it that you think you saw, Zoro?"

"It was probably nothing -- my eyes are probably playing tricks on my or something."

"It could be that some dark recess of your mind is attempting to add childhood fears to what we're experiencing presently," Robin commented from ahead of us.

Luffy laughed at the idea, while Zoro let out what sounded like a snorting noise. I could hear Franky chuckle a bit while I shuddered at the idea. There was something about either what Robin had said or how she had said it that was sending chills down my spine....

** Time Break **

"Hello? Sanji?" Luffy wandered ahead of the group a little, calling out the name of our chef. "Or anybody?"

I let out a bit of a sigh, eyeing the suits of armor and hefting my staff a little. We hadn't been attacked by any zombies since the entryway, but that didn't mean that I was letting my guard down for very long. Especially considering the fact that we hadn't run into any zombies at all yet.

Or found Sanji, for that matter.

"Stupid pig." I moved to Franky's left and smirked a bit as Luffy gave the taxidermy a noogie. "Just tell us where you hid our friends already!"

"Like I said before," the taxidermy piece responded, "ask all you like, I don't know a thing!" It snorted out of amusement again.

"If we get our cook back, we're makin' bacon outta you," Franky said, frowning at what he was holding.

"Eww, Franky." I stuck my tongue out in disgust. "You don't know how bad that thing's gotten. The meat's probably so bad or nastily preserved that it's probably horribly rotten."

Luffy's head turned sharply when he heard that, and he sent a dark glare at the pig. "No fair...."

"Perhaps..." Robin paused for a moment. "...they were strangled, and so they can't call out for help."

I shuddered a bit. "I hope not."

"No more predictions outta you!" Franky barked at Robin. "They're way too depressing!"

I nodded in agreement.

"Hey, wait a second...." Luffy turned and looked back at the rest of us. "When was the last time we saw Zoro?"

"Zoro?" I blinked a couple times before glancing back. "He was right behind me a--" I cut myself off, and my eyes widened. Not only did I notice that I had lost one Will O' Wisp, but....

_ Zoro wasn't there anymore! _

I gulped. "Okay, this is getting to be really horror-film level creepy. Where did our swordsman go?"

"Uh oh." Franky frowned. "That's two crew members, now."

I poured more energy into the two Will O' Wisps that were circling me so that we could have a little more light.

This wasn't good. This wasn't good _at all._

"Zoro's probably going to be fine," Luffy stated, repeating what he had said earlier about Sanji.

"Still, we've lost two pretty good fighters to this mansion and those stupid zombies already," I spoke up nervously. "What's going to happen to the rest of us?"

"We'll slowly be separated, one by one, until there are none of us left," Robin stated grimly.

"Hey! I thought I said no more predictions!" Franky called angrily.

I shuddered a bit, thinking that the statement sounded somewhat familiar. Like...I'd read it in a book or something. And...the title was....

" _Ten Little Indians,"_ I muttered, frowning. "Yeah, that sounds right."

There came the sound of clanking metal, then, and I looked around, expecting one of the suits of armor to come off the wall and attack us at any moment. Then I started looking around and--

"Guys?" My voice came out in a squeak. "Luffy's gone missing, too."

"What?!" Franky turned and started to look left and right. "Damn! What's with this place?! Our crew members are disappearing left and right!"

"It could have something to do with ghosts...." Robin trailed off.

"I doubt it," I spoke up quickly. "Those ghosts that we saw outside would have them moaning and groaning loud enough for us to hear them."

"It could still be something supernatural...."

"Instead of thinking about how they're disappearing, how about you think of something we could do to save them?!" Franky barked in response.

I opened my mouth to add something to the conversation, but then I heard something clanking somewhere behind us. I turned slowly in order to see what exactly was behind us...and started to prime my staff for a possible zombie attack. The Will O' Wisps that had been circling around me zoomed out down the hall as Franky and Robin turned, and they started to zig zag down the hall.

Then one hit something...and passed through a suit of bright gold armor without doing any kind of damage. However, I did hear a very familiar round of giggles from the suit of armor.

"That tickles, Maria!" The helmet's visor was lifted up, revealing the face of a very familiar captain.

I let out a sigh of relief as my Will O' Wisps returned to their orbits around me. "Luffy, don't disappear like that! I thought that you'd gone like Sanji and Zoro had!"

"Shishishishi! You should know that I can take care of myself!"

"Not with a possible shadow stealer around!"

I got a flash of something in my mind when I said that....

And I don't know _why_ I suddenly saw what looked like some kind of black creature with yellow eyes and antennae. And it looked like it was twitching. A lot.

Franky slapped a hand across the back of Luffy's helmet, producing a _clang_ noise from the contact. "What do you think you're doing at a time like this?!"

"Hey! If some armor is lying around, isn't it a man's romance to wear it?!" Luffy shook a fist at Franky angrily.

A man's what?

The statement seemed to hit Franky right in the heart, because he put a hand over his chest and stepped back out of alarm and surprise. "Damn! R-romance...! No wonder!"

Robin gave the two a deadpan expression and started moving forward again. I sent a Will O' Wisp after her to help light her way, then started moving myself. I walked a little more slowly, though, because I didn't really want to leave the boys behind.

"When you got that iron body, did you lose your heart, too?!" Luffy demanded.

Lose your...?!

Something about that statement caused me to come to a short stop.

** Memory Break **

_ "You have to be careful about those things. One wrong move, and you could end up turning into a Heartless." _

_ "Sheesh. But that's if you only manage to run on one try through this entire thing." _

_ "Yeah." There was a sigh. "Kinda makes me wish that they designed this thing with no checkpoints between levels...." _

** Memory Break **

What in the name of the Grand Line was that?

"Forgive me! I never intended to go as far as changing my heart into iron!"

I shook my head when I heard Franky's exclamation, the headache that had suddenly come on me fading. I only got voices this time for some reason...why couldn't I see who it was that was speaking? I mean, I know that one of the voices was mine, but...all I knew was that the other person was a guy.

"Do you know the gravity of your situation?" the preserved pig spoke up meekly.

"Hey!"

I turned my head and looked down the hall at where Robin was standing, a Will O' Wisp bobbing in the air next to her.

"Huh?" Luffy turned and looked away from Franky.

"We've reached what appears to be a dancing hall."

"A dancing hall?" I started over to stand next to the archeologist...but the sound of the pig snickering caused me to slow a bit.

When I came to a stop, I could see the room pretty clearly. It looked like one of those rooms where ghosts might go for a Halloween bash or something -- there were curtains that looked like they had been torn, the red and white paint was peeling, banners with holes in them were sticking out of the walls...honestly, it looked like a colony of moths were infesting the area.

Oh, and it also looked like some sort of carnival had been abandoned here since medieval times.

"Could this be...." Robin trailed off.

"Be what?" I looked at Robin in confusion.

"Robin! Maria! Are Usopp and the others there?" Luffy and Franky ran up behind us, the rubbery captain clanking all the way thanks to that suit of armor of his.

"No, not really," Robin responded. "The inside of this hall resembles the outside for some strange reason."

"What the hell is this place?" Luffy asked, frowning at the hole-filled tents and banners.

I kinda wish that they wouldn't use such rough language...aw, who am I kidding? I've been swearing by Legendary Pokemon ever since I was able to start remembering that stuff. It's probably pretty much the equivalent.

"It looks like some kind of arena," Franky commented, frowning slightly.

"Eh...more like some morons decided to abandon a circus or something." I scratched my head a bit, frowning. "I'd think that an arena would look more like some place where people are forced to fight, now...well, perform juggling acts or something."

I heard a snickering noise, and at I glanced back. Franky had left the pig behind when he and Luffy had run over, but it hadn't moved.

"It's not as simple as you think," the pig said darkly. "But you'll find out now that getting away is impossible!"

I heard what sounded like clanking armor, and frowned a bit. Was that Luffy moving around? Or was there something else?

"Maria, look out!" Franky suddenly rammed into me, pushing me away from where I was standing. At the same time, a suit of armor fell from the ceiling and slammed its blade into the stone floor where I had been standing a moment before.

"What the--" I stumbled a bit before I managed to regain my footing. "Thanks for the save, Franky."

"Anytime, lil sis." Franky glared at the suit of armor as it started to pull its sword out of the floor.

"Who is it?" Robin demanded, getting ready to use her ability.

Luffy let out a gasp. "The armor is moving!"

I couldn't help but gulp a bit at the suit of armor. There were a couple of wooden stakes sticking out of the front of the armor...not to mention the fact that it looked like there were glowing red eyes hiding under the helmet.

"It must be another zombie," Robin said, frowning. "Nothing else would be able to move with spears like those stuck into its body."

I shuddered a bit. "Great. One that actually has armor."

"This zombie does look like it's pretty well-armed," Franky commented. "It's not really all that much of a surprise, considering how well we've beaten up the other zombies we've come across."

Considering the decorations of the room, too, I think that this one fits in with the era this room was meant for.

The zombie knight got into a crouch, then launched itself in Franky's and my direction. It was clearly hoping to chop at least one of us in half, but Franky got in front of him and raised one of his arms, catching the blade as his arm suddenly seemed to flatten into what looked like a flat shield of some kind.

I made it a point to dash out of the way as the knight and Franky started fighting -- Franky using his fists, and the knight relying on sword and shield.

To be honest, I didn't exactly like the fact that the zombie seemed to be smarter than the other zombies that we had fought out in the graveyard...it was moving like a normal human would, in fact -- which shouldn't be possible, considering that zombies are _dead_ and _decaying,_ so they shouldn't be on the same level as someone who's alive.

Franky caught the sword on his expanded, shield-like arm. "Strong Right!"

The attack hit the knight right in the gut, and was closely followed by an uppercut that sent the zombie flying.

"Nice one!" I said, grinning. "That should knock the zombie down for a while!"

...only for the knight to suddenly manage to right himself and skid to a stop on his feet.

I shifted my grip on my staff, wondering if I should get into the fight and wishing that we had Zoro with us so that we had someone who knew at least _something_ about swordplay.

The need for Zoro increased when the knight suddenly made a cross symbol in the air and sent it flying in Franky's direction at a high speed. Before I could even move, there was a bright flash and what sounded like an explosion from where Franky was standing.

It took me a moment for my sight to clear up from the explosion, and I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that Franky had managed to successfully dodged the attack by jumping out of the way.

It might have been curtains for him otherwise -- the wall behind him had a cross-shaped slit in it where the attack had ended up going.

"The wall...!" Franky looked back in surprise before returning his attention to the knight, who looked like he was about to rush the cyborg again.

Franky lifted his left arm, and his hand suddenly rotated and moved in a way that _clearly_ said it wasn't connected to a wrist anymore. Then I remembered what had happened back at Enies Lobby -- Franky had a cannon hiding in his wrist!

"You're no better than any normal swordsman that I've met," Franky snarled.

The knight seemed to take offense to that, because the suit of armor suddenly came flying forward. I got ready to jump forward myself to intercept the zombie before it could attack Franky, but I apparently didn't need to worry.

"Weapons Left!"

There was an explosion and a cloud of smoke as Franky fired on the zombie close-range -- right in its' face. The undead knight went flying into the raised platform in the center of the room, knocking out some of the stairs and bringing up a cloud of dust as it collided with the platform.

I couldn't help but laugh at that. There's no way that the zombie's going to be getting up from that anytime soon.

"Getting all cocky like that is what brought you--" Franky cut himself off when the sound of armor clanking caused me to freeze a bit.

_ The knight was getting back up _ .

"What the--?!" Luffy didn't finish what he had started to say. My guess is that he was just as surprised as we were.

"Okay, this is getting to be really freaky." I shuddered a bit, feeling a cold chill run down my spine.

The knight stood unsteadily on its feet for a moment, and stumbled before managing to right himself...and then he vanished. Franky must've seen something that I hadn't, because a moment later he was guarding against an attack from the knight using his built-in shield.

"He must be using that Shave technique those CP9 guys have!" I exclaimed in surprise. "But how? Zombies shouldn't be able to do stuff like that!"

The other three didn't have any time to answer or comment on what I had just said, because the knight suddenly moved and slashed _through_ Franky's middle, sending the cyborg down on his knees.

"Franky!" Luffy and I exclaimed at once.

"It can't be...." Robin trailed off, sounding immensely concerned.

The knight looked away from where Franky was lying and started towards us. My staff burst into flame, fire working its way up my arms as my Will O' Wisps started to fly a little faster.

Maybe, if I could work up enough heat, I might be able to--

I didn't get to finish the thought, because Franky suddenly got up and grabbed the zombie's head! It looked like he was trying to crush it, too!

"I'm not gonna die just because I was hit by some corpse!" Franky turned on one barre foot and threw the zombie into the raised platform again, slamming into the fence in the process. Wood, stone, and dust went flying all over the place.

I let out a sigh of relief, closing my eyes as I relaxed. "Thank Arceus that's over."

"He's standing up again!"

Luffy's exclamation caused me to snap my eyes open, and I took a step back when I saw that the knight was still moving, even after having been slammed into the stone floor twice now.

"He's totally different from the other zombies that we've run into so far," Franky commented, scowling.

"N-no kidding," I stated. "I didn't think that they'd be able to do everything that this one's been doing so far."

The pig started cackling behind us, and the four of us turned to glare at it.

"Now you're getting what you deserve! That's the fearsomeness of true zombies!"

"Why are you talking from so far away?" Luffy demanded.

I scowled a bit. "Hey, I thought you couldn't move, you little swine. What are you doing over there?"

"Zombies don't feel pain," the pig continued, ignoring our questions. "And the zombies called the Zombie Generals are the most powerful of our zombies, because they made great names for themselves in life for being vigorous warriors! A knight! Felons! A legendary samurai! A pirate! A gunslinger! Imagine those people being completely immortal! You can't possibly win against them! Not a single one of you or your crew is safe! That's what you get!"

"Zombie Generals?" I repeated. That definitely sounded eerie, and I got the feeling that I didn't want to end up running into more than one at once if I didn't know their weak points.

"You bastard!" Luffy roared. He started running towards the pig...which was somehow able to move on its own, even while being stuck in a board of wood.

"Wall Zombie!"

I frowned at the pig's call. "A what now?"

I ended up getting my answer soon enough.

"Got it!" The passage we had just come through was suddenly blocked by a wall coming down...with what looked like a face attached to the side that we were on.

"Uh oh." I gritted my teeth a bit. "This isn't good...."

"It's blocked!" Luffy yelped in surprise.

"Looks like there's no turning back," Robin said somewhat worriedly.

"I hope there's another way out of this room that doesn't involve death," I commented. I started looking up and down the wall, hoping that there was another passage hidden by one of those Wall Zombie things or something.

Then the ground shook a bit, and I stumbled before turning around...and gasping out of surprise and fear.

There was a wall of knights and zombies that looked like they had been mishmashed together -- there was even a zombie that had been connected to the body of an _elephant..._

I gulped and gripped my staff a little more tightly.

"If I were to speak from experience now," Franky commented, "I think that this is going to be beyond tough."

"There's a lot of suits of armor!" Luffy noted, looking up and down the line of zombies approaching us.

"Y-yeah." I gulped again. I was starting to feel a little nervous about being outnumbered as much as we were now. Fighting the Marines when we were outnumbered at Enies Lobby wasn't something that had worried me. Fighting undead monsters from beyond the grave that couldn't feel pain and kept getting back up no matter how much was thrown at them -- or how much _they_ were thrown -- really scared me.

I started to feel something in my chest...like there was a lot of pressure there that wanted to be released.

"Attacking just one of them won't do us any good," Franky growled. "And if we attack all of them, then it's just suicide."

"I see." Luffy turned to look at Franky. "But this isn't even the last battle! We can't be stopped here!"

"If we manage to escape this hall, then we'll probably be able to enter the courtyard," Robin spoke up.

"Right. Then let's split up and we'll meet there! I don't want anyone else to disappear!"

"Luffy!" I looked at my captain in alarm as he started to crack his knuckles. Even though he was wearing armor, I could still hear the bones popping.

"Get them!"

I turned to look back at the zombie horde, and let out a yelp as I saw the zombies suddenly leap up and come towards us.

"Let's go!" I think that Luffy was grinning in that suit of armor of his.

"Right!" Robin, Franky, and I responded at once.


	9. A New Technique!

** Maria's POV **

Franky charged towards one of the zombies, taking the skin off his right hand and revealing the metal fist beneath it. Robin's Devil Fruit ability started sprouting arms all over the place, grabbing zombies and twisting them in ways that made me feel a little sick. Luffy starting throwing punches all over the place, catching zombies in the gut and sending them flying.

And me?

I stayed back and threw out a few Will O' Wisps at first, but it was obvious that these guys weren't as scared of fire as the other zombies that we had run into. So, since they were covered in metal...I decided to try something else.

I'd been able to make a shield of lightning back on Enies Lobby...maybe I could use that as something else.

Yellow energy sparked up and down the staff as I started to spin it, feeling a bit defensive as a zombie-knight started towards me. When I felt like I had waited for long enough, I pulled my staff back and swung it like a baseball bat into the side of the knight's head.

The resulting tingling sensation I felt running down my arms and the loud _zap_ that came from the contact sent the zombie reeling, looking like it was having a bit of a problem with being able to stand properly. Maybe I shot what remained of his nerves?

When I saw there were other zombies starting towards me, I decided it _might_ not be a good idea to stay still. I started moving in order to dodge the zombies that were coming for me, while at the same time using the Lightning attack to hit every single one that managed to get close.

They may not be able to feel any pain, but what remains of their muscles is definitely gonna seize up. I need a name for it, though...

I decided to name it _after_ we managed to get off this creepy island.

"Strong Right!"

I looked up when I heard Franky's voice, and I caught sight of him slamming his fist into the face of the zombie attached to the elephant body. I didn't think that he was strong enough to manage _that!_

Franky landed on the ground and slammed his arms together so that his blue star tattoos combined into one. "Don't get cocky, you guys!"

"Right!" I gave a nod before hearing the roar of a zombie behind me. I turned and slammed my phoenix staff down on top of the head of the undead monster, sending out electric tendrils of lightning. "Be careful about some of these guys, Franky! I'm giving them some good zaps to freeze them up for a bit." Another thought occurred to me as the last of the zombies near me seemed to collapse. "Do you think they could end up getting their armor magnetized?"

"With this kind of metal?" Franky slammed his fist into another zombie and sent him flying. "I doubt that's going to happen so easily at this point without tearing the armor to pieces or something."

I scowled a bit. "Great. I was kinda hoping that was going to happen."

"Outta my way!"

_ BAM!! _

I turned my head again and saw that Luffy had managed to slam three zombies into a wall, knocking out other zombies on the way Even with that armor on, which was probably slowing him down at least a little bit...

"Yes! Now I can get out of here!" Luffy started running forward...only to come to a stumbling halt when the zombies he had slammed into the wall started to get up again. And the other zombies started getting to their feet, too -- even though the ones that I had hit were still sparking and jerking around.

To be honest, the sight of that made get a headache. The sight of a teenage boy wearing red and gray armor (with a matching helmet and sunglasses) sparking while lying in a pool of black liquid came and went at the back of my head.

"Damn it," Franky swore. "Don't think that you zombies can beat us! Take this!" He rammed into a zombie with a panda head and an axe while Robin started using her ability again. I could hear the bones cracking even from where I was.

I decided to see if I could reach more than one zombie at once -- meaning I couldn't hit them over the head so much, because that was only one at a time.

Maybe....

One a whim, I decided to slam the butt of the staff into the stonework. You can probably imagine my surprise when it wasn't electricity that spread out on the ground like a net.

"Icy Terrain?" I blinked a couple times when the zombies that were near me suddenly had their feet trapped in a thick level of ice. Then I realized the words that had come out of my mouth, and I couldn't help but grin a bit.

That is...until I got the headache that followed.

** Memory Break **

_ "What are those things?!" demanded a figure wearing what looked like a gas mask of some kind. As a result of the mask, his voice came through somewhat muted. _

_ "You mean you haven't been paying attention to anything this whole trip?!" I barked, whacking what looked like a bulbous, multicolored fish that had seen better days. "They're Dream Eaters, you idiot!" _

_ "They only gather when there's something wrong," spoke up a teenage boy with chin-length, silver hair. He was holding some kind of weapon...it looked like a sword, but it also looked like a large key of some kind. "Especially with someone's heart." _

_ "Usually involving some sort of darkness." A tall, lanky teenage boy with spiky red hair that looked a lot like a mane glared at a man who looked like he had a lot of muscle on him. The boy was completely dressed in what looked like a black robe of some kind, and he was also carrying a sword that also kinda looked like a key. Except that his seemed to be themed around fire for some reason. _

_ The muscular man also  _ didn't _look friendly as he raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's certainly not me."_

_ That statement set off a lot of alarm bells in my head -- mostly concerning the fact that the man was lying. _

_ I let out a snarl. "You'd better hope that it isn't." I started concentrating on gathering more energy together so that I could so something about taking out these "Dream Eaters" more quickly. Instead of my staff becoming covered in fire, however, it became covered in plain red energy as I slammed the butt of my staff into the grass. _

_ The shockwave of energy that followed froze the weird fish-things, but left the two teenagers alone, even though the grass under our feet had become covered in ice. _

_ "Since when were you able to do that?" demanded the redhead as he smashed the frozen Dream Eaters. "I thought you could only use fire!" _

_ "So did I!" The words were out of my mouth before I could say anything else. A fish tried to sneak up on me from behind, but I snuffed it with a Fire Sphere. "I guess there's more to this staff than I thought." _

** Memory Break **

I shook my head, the muted sounds of the scuffle with the zombies starting to come back to full volume. Dream Eaters? Darkness in people's hearts? What kind of sense did all of that make?

"Hey, Maria! Are you feeling all right?"

I looked over at Franky, who looked a little bit concerned as I rubbed at my head.

"Y-yeah, I think so." I shook my head. "Man, what a time to get another chunk of memory back...I hope that doesn't happen in the middle of a fight like that again."

My vision cleared up, and I caught sight of the zombies. It looked like they were just finishing getting up to their feet -- Luffy and the others had probably been beating them down when I was having my flashback.

It was worse now than it had been before the flashback, though -- we were surrounded in small pockets by the zombies...meaning that there really wasn't a way out.

"It seems that this isn't as easy as we had once thought," Robin commented, looking at the zombies in their armor. One or two of them were still sparking, but it didn't look like they were being stopped by their muscles seizing up as much as they had been a moment ago.

"Damn," Franky muttered. "No matter how many times we beat them up, they just keep on coming back at us!"

"They're really persistent!" Luffy commented from where he was. "Gum Gum Gatling!"

I started to see zombies go flying and decided to get back into the action myself. I covered my staff in electricity again and threw the stuff out in an arc at the zombies in front of me. The name for the move came to me in an instant. "Shock Wave!"

The zombies were zapped and stumbled back, electricity hopping from one zombie to another because of how close together they were.

"Be careful with that!" Franky jumped back when a strand of electricity jumped back onto my staff, which was still sparking; I could feel my hands tingling from the contact. "I'm half-made of metal too, you know! If you let that thing off again, I could get shorted out!"

"Oh, uh...sorry about that." I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment as the zombies stumbled about drunkenly, looking like they were about to collapse at any moment. "How much of you is metal, anyway?"

"Just my front half."

"Ah. Gotcha." I guess that would make it kind of hard for Franky when there's electricity in the area. "Well, how else do you expect me to take those undead idiots out?"

"I should be able to handle them now that there isn't any electricity jumping around."

"One Sword Style! 36 Caliber Phoenix!"

I felt a chill run down my spine as Franky punched out the drunken zombies. The voice that said that wasn't familiar...but the words that the voice said _were_. I definitely heard it a lot when we were keeping cannonballs away from the _Merry_ when we were leaving Enies Lobby.

"Isn't that an attack that Zoro knows?" I asked. I think a squeak got into my voice. "Don't tell me he picked it up off a guy who lived over a century ago or something."

Franky would have answered me if a loud explosion hadn't stopped him. I heard what sounded like the clanging of metal as I looked around to see if there was anyone who ended up getting hit by the attack. I ended up catching sight of Luffy getting up from a crouch...and there was a circular pattern gouged into the wall a short distance behind him.

Looks like he barely avoided the attack.

"That move..." Realization spread across Luffy's face like a wildfire. "Zoro!" He turned sharply -- probably in the direction that the attack had come from. "Hey, Zoro! What do you think you're doing, aiming at me like that?! It's dangerous!"

I followed Luffy's gaze, and caught sight of a shadow that did indeed look like Zoro. He was holding two swords and a third was hanging from his side still in its sheath--

And then I blinked...and reeled back out of complete shock.

"That does _not_ look like Zoro!" I yelped, staring at the shadowy figure that was walking towards us. "I-I mean, it did a minute ago, but now it doesn't!"

The figure stepped fully into the light...revealing a zombie with a weird-looking shirt and something wrapped around his waist that did _not_ look natural. Not to mention the fact that there were a bunch of _nails_ rammed through his head, and a _second head sprouting out of the first one!_

"Scars on the back are a swordsman's shame!" the zombie barked. "But I've got scars all over the place!"

I felt a shudder. The zombie _sounded_ like Zoro, but the voice was garbled -- not to mention that the zombie definitely did _not_ look like our swordsman.

Something _really bad_ is going on here.

"Who are you?" Luffy asked, frowning. "Zoro?"

"I am Jigoroh!" came the reply.

"Jigoroh?" I tried the name out, then frowned. "Definitely not a name that I've heard before."

"Oh, so you're not Zoro." Luffy nodded sagely to himself, but then he frowned again. "But why are you using Zoro's techniques?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" I piped up in agreement.

"You're annoying me, you lousy pirate!" the zombie put a sword in his mouth -- _just like Zoro does._ "You're my enemy, and I'm going to cut you through!"

"Sheesh, you're really acting like Zoro! Are you sure you aren't a clone of him or something?"

"Luffy, that guy's a zombie!" I motioned to the thing that was sounding and acting so much like Zoro. "There's no way that he's a clone of Zoro!"

"Raaar!!!"

I turned sharply when I heard the roar, and I barely managed to lift my staff to stop the sword that was coming at me.

The knight on the other end of the sword snarled at me from under his helmet and started to push down on me.

The feeling that there was a bubble in my chest that wanted to burst started to come back as I gritted my teeth and tried to push back. This zombie was definitely stronger than the Marines and the zombies that I had faced so far...I was going to need an extra edge in order to fight back against these guys.

Instinctively, I reached into myself, found the bubble...and popped it.

** Change in POV -- Franky, 3rd **

Franky had been fending off a good number of zombies that were near him when something exploded nearby, and it suddenly felt like the temperature in the room had risen quite a bit. He paused for a moment and started to look around in order to see what exactly it was that was going on...and his eyes widened in shock when he saw something he hadn't been expecting.

Maria pushed back the zombie that had been coming up against her. Her entire body was completely covered in a white fire that was reaching out in all directions, tendrils either latching onto zombies and burning through their armor or sending them flying away from the teenager.

"White Flare," Maria snarled through gritted teeth, "One Hundred Percent!"

Within moments, there was a large opening around where Maria and Franky were standing, circling the area like some kind of fiery snake for a few more moments before petering out. As the fire dissipated, Maria's staff disappeared, as well, leaving her wavering unsteadily on her feet.

Franky dashed over and caught Maria before she could collapse to the floor. "What the hell was that you just did?"

Maria, panting heavily, looked up at the cyborg rather hazily. "I...I'm not exactly sure. I don't think I can do it again, though."

"No shit. I'm surprised that you didn't finish off any of the zombies."

Maria let out a weak laugh.

"Franky! Maria! Grab on!"

Franky's head shot up, and he caught sight of Robin swinging towards them from the ceiling, holding onto what looked like a rope made out of her hands. He quickly reached up with one hand so that Robin could grab him, keeping a tight grip on Maria with the other one. A moment later, they were lifted up over the crowd of zombies and landed just outside them before breaking out into a run.

Franky shifted Maria's position in his arms so that she could sit on his left hand and wrap her arms around his neck so that she wouldn't end up falling off.

"You looked like you were pretty weak after that," Franky commented, panting from running and the previous exertion of the fight.

Maria nodded slightly. "Yeah...I think that move takes a lot out of me. I don't think that I'm going to be doing anything for a while." She glanced back. "Merlin, Jewels, and Lien, they don't really give up, do they?"

Franky glanced back himself then turned sharply on one heel and glared at the Zombie Generals that were still running after them. "Damn, these things are persistent! If it's zombies, then...." He took in a breath. "Fresh Fire!"

His flamethrower attack came flying out of his mouth and went flying at the zombies. He saw that it suddenly dropped off to about three quarters of its intended size, but then he caught sight of the hand that was reaching out for his attack.

Maria let out a sigh as a portion of the fire was absorbed into her. "Okay, that makes me feel a bit better."

"Prepare the buckets!" The fire was put out rather abruptly by two zombie knights with water-filled buckets.

"Wh-what the?!" Franky couldn't even finish the swear.

"You seriously thought that zombies were weak to fire?" Maria summoned her staff and started zapping the zombies as they ran towards them, but she didn't jump off from where she was sitting. "I figured they wouldn't be able to be hurt by it because of the armor."

"Trente Fleur! Clutch!"

Franky heard the cracking bones of the zombies that had managed to pass them; Robin was more than capable of defending herself.

"Let's get out of here," Robin suggested.

"Sounds good to me!" Franky turned and started running for the archway, Robin keeping in step with him.

As they left the room behind and ran out onto a walkway that was open to the outdoors; Franky was sure that he could hear the sound of the clanking zombies behind them.

Maria glanced back over Franky's shoulder for a moment, then looked around and made a worried noise. "Where's our captain?"

"He's probably still in there." Franky craned his neck to glance back for a moment, then turned back around so that he could see where he was going. "I didn't see him when I turned around, and I don't see him now. It's all because of that gold armor he's wearing!"

There came a moan from the zombies; Maria made another worried noise as Franky and Robin turned around to look at the armored freaks that were following them.

"Damnit! He couldn't have disappeared to, could he?" Franky gritted his teeth a bit.

"This isn't a good thing," Maria whimpered.

"We can't wait around for him," Robin spoke up, looking over at the two of them. "The zombies will catch up to us pretty soon if we stand around and wait like this!"

Franky growled out of annoyance, then raised his free hand and yelled at the crowd of zombies that was just coming out of the room they had been in a moment ago. "Hey! Straw hat!"

There came a familiar muffled yell a moment later. "That hurt, you bastard! Let me out, you bastard!"

"That's Luffy's voice!" Maria identified.

"Where is it coming from...?" Robin frowned.

Franky frowned, as well, then heard what sounded like a chain moving. Evidently, Maria heard it too, because the cyborg heard a gasp in his left ear as Luffy continued yelling.

"Open the lid and let me out, bastard!!"

"There!" Maria pointed up. "That casket!"

Sure enough, there was a rattling coffin on what looked like a chain of some kind, and Luffy's voice was clearly coming from inside it.

"Luffy!" Robin and Maria called out at once.

"What? You mean Straw Hat's stuck in that thing?!" Franky looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Do you have any other explanation for where his voice is coming from?!" Maria responded. "We have to go after that casket -- stat!"

"Right!" Franky gave a nod, then started running, yelling up at Luffy. "Luffy! What are you up to?! He was an idiot to let himself be caught! Straw Hat!"

"You're not going any further!"

Franky turned his attention to what was in front of them and came skidding to a halt, Maria gripping his shirt so that she wouldn't end up falling off.

"What in the name of Chaos?!" Maria yelped as she looked at the thing that was blocking their path.

Franky stared in shock at the creature. It looked like a gigantic spider that had been fused with a monkey or something -- and it didn't look very friendly. In fact, it looked a lot like a zombie....

"Hey, hey! Monkey, monkey, monkey!" the monster in front of them cackled, curling and uncurling its tail like it found the whole situation amusing. "The rumored Spider Monkey, that's me!"

"A giant spider!" Robin exclaimed.

"That's one monster spider," Franky agreed.

Maria nodded vigorously in agreement. "It's even bigger than the spiders that I've seen during my travels as a Pokemon Trainer! It's almost as big as some of the Legendaries!"

Franky didn't know what that meant, but considering that Maria had just said "Legendaries," he figured that those things were probably big and powerful. Which he hoped wasn't the case for this "Spider Monkey" creep.

"Free me, you asshole!" Luffy swore from his coffin as it disappeared into the tower behind the giant zombie. "Let me out!" This was followed by a loud thud and a yell of surprise.

"Oh, another one!" The Spider Monkey looked back at the hole that Luffy had disappeared into.

"Damnit!" Franky swore. He glared at the zombie. "What are you idiots planning on doing with him?!"

The Spider Monkey's grin only widened. "Rest assured, the same thing is going to happen to you three, too! So you should be worrying about yourselves!"

Maria slipped off Franky's hand and stood on the walkway rather unsteadily, using her phoenix-topped staff as a support. She looked back and stiffened up a bit, looking like she was ready to attack at whatever-it-was that was behind them.

Franky didn't even need to glance back to know that the zombies from before were almost on top of them now, but he did look back anyway so that he could glare at them.

Franky gritted his teeth -- as did Maria. The cyborg made a note that Maria didn't like her situation very much, either, as he turned to glare up at the Spider Monkey.

"I'm in front of you," the giant monster said, "and the armored warrior zombies are behind you. What remains of your crew is going to be annihilated!"

 


	10. Spiders, Skeletons, and BOOM

** Maria's POV **

I glared at the zombies that were coming up behind us. I was still exhausted from that..."White Flare" attack that I had shot off earlier. It kinda felt familiar for some reason, but why that was specifically, I had no idea yet.

Anyway, I was willing to keep on fighting at this point, considering that we were kinda being trapped by the Spider Monkey-monster and the menagerie of suits of armor.

"...I see," Franky stated shortly, glaring at the large monster that had suddenly blocked our path. I turned a bit so that I could see the spider monkey, but I didn't turn around all the way -- no way was I going to let the zombies behind us slip out of my sight just yet. "So that's what happened to him. You captured our other crewmates and took them behind that wall, didn't you?"

"Monkey Monkey!" The arachnid-thing laughed. "That's right. And just wait! Any second now, you'll be suffering the same fate! A Zombie General before you, and Zombie Generals behind." The grin on the thing's face really became wicked then. "I'd give up, if I were you!"

I bristled a bit, gritting my teeth at the comment.

"Whether you're a big dumbass monkey or a big dumbass spider, I'm going to guess that the web that caught the _Sunny_ when we came here was your work," Franky continued.

I looked at the cyborg in surprise, then back up at the spider as it started laughing again. It kinda made sense, though...I mean, spiders, no matter what their Type, could spin webs. It would make sense that something of that size would be capable of doing the same thing.

"Sounds about right, now that you mention it," I spoke up, my eyebrows knotting together. I _really_ didn't want to be on the receiving end of any attack it gave us now. It might involve getting wrapped up like mummies and given the same fate as Luffy and the others.

That thought got me a headache and a quick flash of a nasty-looking spider hissing and spitting at what looked like a miniature human with hairy feet and a frying pan in his hands. I couldn't identify where it had come from, though, as it slipped out of my mind as quickly as it had come.

"You've been after us from the beginning," Franky continued. "That must mean that you had us under watch, huh?"

The monster laughed again. "Yup! Once on Thriller Bark, there's no hiding! Mistress Perona's ghost network sees all, knows all, and tells all! Frankly, you were doomed from the start."

Ghost network? I shuddered a bit. Sounded like someone _did_ control the ghosts after all. But what sort of power does this Perona have that allowed her to do that?

"Those big ears of yours...they must be good for gathering information. And you certainly like to run your mouth." Robin kept up a neutral expression.

The monkey blinked a couple times, then put a large monkey paw behind one of his almost human ears. "Um, sorry? What was that?"

"You mean they're just for show?!" Franky roared.

"Something tells me he's playing us with that comment," I stated, starting to feel a little annoyed at being boxed in.

"Franky...." Robin spoke up with a tone of warning.

"Yeah, I got it. We're completely surrounded -- worst case scenario, I guess." Franky turned and glanced back at the armored zombies that were coming up on us.

"If this wasn't the worst case scenario, I'd hate to see what was," I commented.

"What we need is a last-second miracle plan." Franky smirked. "You think I can handle it?"

"I'd love to see you try," Robin replied. "Put on a good show."

I looked back and forth between them, feeling a little confused. "What are you talking about?"

Franky shot me a grin. "You'll see." He put his arms above his head, then brought them down again...aiming them at the stone floor. "Check this one out!"

"Wha--hey! Don't do that!" the spider monkey monster yelped.

"Franky?" Was he going to do what I thought he was going to do...?

"Here we go!" Franky's arms suddenly looked like they had increased to twice their size. "Coup de VENT!"

A blast of air suddenly came from Franky's hands and slammed through the stonework, creating a neat hole straight through...right before the bridge started to break and collapse, that is.

"You can't break the friggin' bridge, man!" the spider monkey yelped. "That's cheating!"

I didn't think that it was....more like it was going to end up killing us.

"So, is my plan super enough for ya?" Franky asked, grinning like a hyena.

"It certainly is violent," Robin responded calmly.

"And could end up getting us _killed,"_ I pointed out, looking down through the cracks. I hadn't realized that we were up in the middle of the air like this until Franky had gone and done his thing. "If we don't do something, we could end up getting squashed against the ground!"

"I believe that I can handle that." Robin crossed her arms as our rocky footing was quickly lost. As the rocks fell out from underneath me, I started flailing about a bit, hoping to find something solid to grab onto. "Now, Cien Fleur!"

Since Robin was above both Franky and me, I was able to see what exactly it was that she was starting to do: hands and arms sprouted from her shoulder blades and grabbed onto each other, creating something that I hadn't expected.

"Wing!" Robin swooped down and grabbed the both of us, the arms she had conjured working together to keep us from falling any further.

"Y-you," Franky stuttered.

"You can _fly?!"_ I yelped in surprise.

"Yes, but for only five seconds." Already, it looked like Robin was starting to be having some trouble keeping us in the air.

"That's not very long!"

"But that's all we're going to need!" Franky grinned a bit, then aimed with his right hand. "Strong Right!"

His hand shot off and slammed into the edge of one of the broken ends of the bridge.

"Sweet -- I got the ledge!" Franky's grin faded. "That's the building where they took Straw Hat. If we can make it up there, we can save him!"

Robin was gritting her teeth and letting out a noise that sounded like she was starting to have a hard time. "I-I'm sorry -- I can't hold it!"

And we started to drop; Robin and I quickly grabbed hold of Franky as I clenched my eyes tightly; no way did I want to see the ground coming up on us, thank you very much!

"Arm return!" Franky called out. "Come on -- just a little more! Ow, hey!"

I felt something grab the back of my shirt and pull me up off Franky before tossing me into the air again. I had to open my eyes this time to see where exactly I was going.

"Ow!" My face rammed into a wooden door, and I slid down to a stone floor right as I heard an explosion of noise underneath me. I felt a headache from the collision coming on, and I shook my head as I started to get to my feet unsteadily, summoning my staff for some extra support.

"A fall like that isn't going to stop a zombie," Robin commented.

I looked over at the archeologist, rubbing my stinging nose for a moment before I moved a little closer to the edge and looked down. Seeing the distance that we _could_ have fallen -- and all the little broken bodies of the zombies (the spider monkey now actually looked like its average size) -- made me scramble back a bit.

"It would have stopped us, though," I commented, shuddering.

"At least they're trapped in the courtyard." Robin let out a sigh of relief. "That should buy us some time." She looked over at the ledge. "Thanks for the help, Franky."

The teal-haired head of the shipwright came up over the edge, his hands gripping the broken stone. He looked mad. "Yeah, thanks a lot! How _generous_ of you to pay a compliment to your stepping stone! How about an apology?"

The comment was ignored; Robin returned her attention to the zombies far below us. "We should hurry while they're still down."

"Hey! Don't pretend like you didn't hear me! You could try helping me up, at least!"

When Robin didn't move, I knelt down a bit and held out my hand, ready to brace for the oncoming weight that was our cyborg shipwright. "Let me give you a hand, Franky."

Franky blinked a couple times before he accepted the gesture. Man, that guy is _really_ heavy! I ended up falling on my rear getting him up on the ledge!

I let out a gasp of air as I finally managed to get Franky up with Robin and me. Franky gave me an expression of what looked like surprise.

"Man, when I thought that you were pretty heavy for a kid your size, I didn't think that you'd have that kind of muscle in those skinny arms of yours."

I gave Franky an expression of confusion, and would have asked what it was that he meant were it not for Robin letting out a gasp of shock. Franky and I scrambled to our feet at the noise and looked over the ledge.

"Uh oh." I swallowed a bit when I saw the ant-sized forms of the zombies beginning to move.

"Damn," Franky cursed. "I guess that's the undead for ya."

The spider monkey-monster started moving around, then turned and seemed to glare up at us. I heard what sounded like muttering...was it trying to say something?

Its voice became a little more clear a moment later.

"You do realize that I'm a spider, right?" the zombie called up. "Give me two seconds, and I'll be right up there! I'd start running if I were you!"

I gripped my staff. "Spiders are bugs, so this one should be more affected by fire than anything else." I fingered the red wood, ready to move when the other two were.

But neither Franky nor Robin started moving.

I looked back and forth between the two of them out of confusion, frowning at the fact that the two of them were looking up at the purplish, foggy sky above us. "What is it?"

"It looks like something's falling," Franky commented, frowning.

"Falling?" I frowned, then looked up myself. My frown deepened when I saw what looked like a black dot in the sky...and it was slowly getting bigger. And yelling.

Wait -- yelling?

That's not some _thing,_ " I corrected. "That's some _one!"_

The yell was starting to sound eerily familiar, too....

"What do you call a flying skeleton?!"

"Skeleton?!" My eyes widened as the form wearing black rocketed past us and slammed into the ground, bringing up a large cloud of dust.

"BOOM!" a voice called up as the collision occurred.

I couldn't help it. I started laughing as the dust started to clear, bending over double. "Boom! Oh, man..." My laughter faded into giggles, and I felt a little lighter. "I...I think I needed that."

I got a minor tickling at the back of my head, and a picture of a fellow who had a mustache and a mess of black hair that was only growing out of the top of his head, as well as a match stuck in his mouth.

The statement that came with it made me laugh even harder.

_ "Anyway, I guess there was this leak next door to the gas or what -- BOOM! -- no more Chinese laundry." _

A-and that accent -- Italian, I think -- was what really drove me to fall on my back, still laughing.

Franky shook me as my laughter faded. "You feeling okay, kid? Because I didn't find that very funny." He had a weird look on his face that clearly aid he was wondering if I had lost my mind or something.

The last remnants of a giggle escaped me, and I took in a breath in order to calm myself down. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that -- I got a pretty funny memory back because of that guy yelling 'BOOM!'." I snorted and started to get to my feet, feeling like I could move a little more easily. "I'm fine now, though."

"Uh huh." Franky eyed me for a moment longer before returning his attention to what was over the ledge. "Is that who I think it is down there?"

Robin shook her head. "It _can't_ be."

"Can't be who?" I moved a little closer to the edge so that I could see who it was that the two of them were talking about.

"Actually, looking at the shape of that crater, I don't think it can be anyone else," Franky argued as I looked over the edge. I could see some kind of ant-sized crater that was shaped pretty weirdly. Almost like...it was human in shape....

It took me a moment to put two and two together when I saw the big round shape where the head should have been.

"Is that the skeleton that was on our ship earlier?" I asked, blinking a couple times.

"I don't get it." Franky frowned. "He had to have fallen down from somewhere...." He glanced up. "But where?"

"It kinda looked like he'd fallen down from out of the middle of the sky," I commented, scratching my head. "Do you think he was trying to jump from one of the mansion's towers or something?"

"Maybe...." Franky sighed irritably. "Well, now we have to go down there and save him. What a pain in the ass."

"But how are we--"

I was cut off short when some white, stringy thing suddenly shot up and stuck to the wall. Robin, who had nearly been hit by it, took a step back and glanced back at the wall. Seconds later, even more strings started shooting out all over the place.

It took me a moment to realize what was going on, and by the time that I had, the monstrous spider had managed to get up to our level.

"Hey, hey!" The Spider Monkey monster laughed from its perch in the center of the gigantic spider web that it had managed to make. "You think that I'm going to let you get away just because you broke some measly bridge? I'm a spider! I can climb wherever the hell I want! Monkey! Monkey!"

Franky grabbed the black cylinder that he had slung over his shoulder back when we had been leaving the _Sunny._ He popped the top off. "Looks like we're going to have to beat the crap out of this guy first." He glanced back at the two of us while he pulled out two rods that were connected together by a chain. "Think you can keep the spider busy for a sec?"

"Maybe?" I eyed the spider web, thinking about how quickly it had formed. I might be able to burn some of the strands...would definitely be a good test for when we could get _Sunny_ away from the web at the dock.

"What for?" Robin eyed Franky curiously.

Franky ignored us. "Perfect, there's an open section right over there." He started walking past us. "Anyway, I'm gonna build a spider smasher."

"A Spider Smasher?" I repeated as Franky disappeared.

"Hey, I'm right here!" the spider-monster barked. "Don't ignore me! I'll show you what's what, you bastards!"

I let a growl escape my throat as I started to summon my fire. "I may not have as much energy as I did before we got here, but I could still do something, at least."

The monster raised a hand. "Sticky...Spider Net!"

A mass of white started coming at Robin and me, and I instantly raised my staff to intercept it, fire blasting out in the five-star form that I had only used once before on Enies Lobby. "Fire Blast!"

"Seis Fleur," Robin declared. "Slap!"

As the sticky stuff was burned by my fire attack, I heard a slapping noise and a screech from the monkey.

"You slapped my eye, you awful woman!" the spider screeched, his hands on his eyes. He removed his hands...only to reveal that there was more of that spider string stuff between his hands and his eyes. "No, no! Damnit, you're playing dirty! This isn't fair!"

"Eeugh." I stuck my tongue out at the sight. "That's gross."

"Good work, you two! Now it's my turn!"

I turned and looked back as Franky emerged from the doorway, and my eyes widened a bit.

"Hi," Robin greeted, sounding amused. "What's that?"

Franky gave the both of us a knowing smirk that clearly said he was going to enjoy what he was about to do. "This here? I just stuck my steel nunchucks into some stone columns, that's all."

Oh, so _that's_ what Franky was planning when he mentioned a Spider Smasher.

Franky dropped one end on the stone walkway. "Cause when a monster is this big, you've gotta smash 'em extra hard!" The cyborg pulled back and threw one end of the nunchuck towards the spider, who had nearly managed to get the white string off his eyes. "Heavy Nunchuck!"

I gave a wide grin when the attack hit the spider right in the face, creating what looked like a nosebleed. "Nice shot! That should jar what remains of his brains!"

Franky let out a laugh, then jumped into the air, swinging his reinforced nunchucks around before slamming one end down into the spider's head. He then proceeded to whack the spider repeatedly, back and forth with such speed and power that I couldn't help but wonder how well he'd fare against some of the Fighting-Type Pokemon that I had befriended.

And just when the show was getting good, the spider let out a shriek.

"I said stop it already! Sticky Spider Net!"

"Hey! No fair!" I called out in annoyance as the nunchuck was forced out of Franky's hands and dropped onto the spider net. If it was the sticky stuff, then there was no way that Franky was going to be able to get it out without getting stuck to it himself.

The monster let out a laugh as it pointed one of its hands at Franky. "No more smashing me in the face! Too bad for you! Looks like it's time for my revenge!"

Franky didn't move; I couldn't see the expression on his face from where I was standing. But when he lifted up his left arm, I couldn't help but grin a bit and remember the zombie knight from the room we had just left.

"Weapons Left!"

BOOM.

I let out a whoop of laughter at the look on the spider monster's face as the smoke started to clear. "Bet he wasn't expecting _that!_ Nice one, Franky!"

Then I felt something grab me from behind and pull me back into something springy. "What the -- hey! What gives?" I tried to pull myself forward, but then something very small and very fast zipped past my legs and tied my arms against what it was that was behind me. I started to look around in order to see what was going on.

"Where in the name of the Chaos Emeralds did you little _dumnkopfs_ come from?!" I demanded, glaring at the little giggling, mouse-headed spiders that were sitting on the spider's web that I was now tied against. And it wasn't just me who was tied to it, either -- Robin was too.

I paused for a moment. "Dumnkopf?" Where had that word come from? I shook my head; I'd probably figure it out later.

"What the hell are those things?!" Franky had turned around and seen our predicament, and it looked like he didn't exactly know what they were, either.

"Mousey-mousey mouse mouse! Mousey-mousey mouse mouse!" the spider-mice laughed, and I cringed at their chant.

"I-I'm sorry," Robin said, pulling at the webbing. "I was careless. I didn't think there's be other spiders here."

"You're not the only one," I groused, scowling. One of the little creeps started to move closer to the two of us, and I took in a breath before spitting out a small fireball -- a miniature flamethrower -- at the zombie. I managed to hit the bandages on its back, sending it retreating with a screech.

Franky stared running towards us, and I caught sight of the large spider monster raising a hand.

"Franky! Look--"

My warning didn't get to him in time; Franky was slammed into the spider net by the sticky stuff that the monster had shot at the cyborg.

The monkey laughed weakly as it started to move forward. "Serves you right! Monkey! Monkey! That's what happens when you let your guard down."

I gritted my teeth. Something about the situation felt familiar, but the fact that I was tied down like this wasn't what was setting off the alarm bells in my head. I felt like I had accidentally ended up in traps similar to this before.

"These little guys are my minions, called Spider-Mice," the monster continued. Of course they were. "There's more than five hundred of them here on Thriller Bark. Once we set our eyes on you, there's no escape -- we have never once failed to capture our prey! From the shadows -- from your blind spot -- from where you least expect it, we attack! And, thanks to Doctor Hogback's modifications, our silk webs our unbreakable!"

Hogback? Was he some warthog zombie quack? And what was all this nonsense about something being unbreakable?

"We've picked off your friends one by one, silently carrying them along the mansion's ceiling without ever being noticed!" spoke up one of the Spider-Mice. "It doesn't matter how strong you are -- once you're wrapped in our webs, there's no escape! One little mistake, and they become an offering to our master."

Picked them off one by -- "Sanji and Zoro! So _that's_ what happened to them! They were taken by you morons!" My voice turned into a snarl at the end, and fire started to gather on the staff that was still in my grip. The spiders that were near it skittered away with squeaks of surprise.

"Don't worry about your friends!" another Spider-Mouse added. "You will all be reunited soon when we gather you up and take you to them! I hope you enjoy the ride!"

Now didn't _that_ sound ominous.

_ "Yohohoho, yohohoho..... Yohohoho, yohohoho...." _

I stiffened up a bit, and the fire on my staff died. That sounded _really_ familiar....

_ "Yohohoho, yohohoho.... Yohohoho, yohohoho...." _

"What's that?" The Spider Monkey monster looked around with a clear expression of confusion.

_ "Gather up all of the crew; it's time to ship out Binks' brew. Sea wind blows -- to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide...." _

The Spider-Mice started to fidget a bit. I didn't know exactly why; the song actually felt a bit soothing, and the tone was catchy. I kinda wanted to know what the rest of the song was.

_ "All across the ocean's tide, Rays of sunshine far and wide -- Birds they sing of cheerful things in circles passing by. Yohohoho, yohohoho...." _

"Stop it!" screeched out the Spider Monkey. "Who the hell is singing that?!"

"I think I know," I murmured. Robin glanced over at me with a knowing expression, as well.

_ "Yohohoho, yohohoho.... Yohohoho, yohohoho.... Yohohoho, yohohoho...." _

I suddenly heard footsteps, and I turned my head sharply in order to see who was coming. My eyes widened in surprise a moment later.

"Yohohohoho!" Brook laughed delightedly, grinning his ever-present grin. "My goodness, it seems that you came to this island after all!"

"Kind of hard not to," I responded.

"How did you get all the way up here?" Robin asked, sounding surprised.

Brook lifted his top hat off the top of his afro. "I jumped, of course. I'm quite light." He started to turn, his cane over one shoulder -- no, he had a _blade_ with a _cane handle_ instead of his normal cane. "Well, since you're already here, I suppose there's no turning back. I'll tell you everything that I know about this island."

"Who are you?!" the spider monster demanded. "You're not a zombie! Does that mean you're with these pirates?!"

Brook turned away from the zombie and started walking towards us. I saw a moment later that he was holding onto what looked like a purple, circular sheath of some kind -- a part of the cane? Does that mean that the sword was supposed to be _in_ the cane?

"H-hey!" Franky called out. "What are you--"

"Not to worry, my friend," Brook responded coolly. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll put an end to this promptly."

"Put an end to this?" I blinked in confusion as the skeleton started to sheathe his sword in his cane.

"Three Verse Humming...Arrow Notch Slash!"

Brook finished sliding his sword into his cane sheath...and a line of blood suddenly sprouted from the Spider Monster while the thing let out a loud shriek.

I couldn't help but stare in shock. When did Brook cut that thing? I didn't even notice him go after it!

Just how strong of a swordsman _is_ Brook?


	11. Purify the Zombies!

** Maria's POV **

The Spider Monkey acted like it was in its death throes, blood seeping out from the cut that had appeared lengthwise down its body. I couldn't help but wonder when exactly it was that Brook had managed to make that kind of cut.

"Don't stop!" Franky called in warning. "That damn thing's a zombie -- it's just going to get right back up!"

Well, that comment makes me feel only minutely better about the blood...but I was still a bit queasy at the sight of the red stuff. I didn't even think that spiders _did_ have red blood....

The monster started to force itself up, growling a bit. "Y-you son of a--" It cut itself off for some reason, and I frowned a bit when I saw that its eyes were widening. "Y-you...I know you from somewhere!"

"Know him?" I echoed, my frown deepening. "How?"

"Yohohohoho!" Brook turned and looked at Franky. "Never fear. I've got this under control."

"You do?" Franky repeated in confusion.

"Even the dead can be killed, if you know their weakness."

I felt a little chilled when I heard that. "Does that mean--"

That's when the Spider Monkey started to sound like it was choking. The monstrous thing reared back, shuddering, its mouth wide open. Something started to come out of it -- black, blobby, and snaking around as though it had a mind of its own.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Franky demanded.

"That's what I want to know," I commented. "It looks like a monster that I might have faced before."

Robin shot me a look, but then looked back at the skeleton as he started to speak.

"That thing is the soul of the zombie."

My jaw dropped. "It's _soul?!"_

To be honest, I was half expecting the black blob to gain yellow eyes and antenna-like appendages right then and there, but that didn't happen.

"Why's it comin' out of his mouth?!" Franky didn't look like he was believing his ears and eyes, either.

"NO!" all the Spider-Mice monsters looked like they were having heart attacks. "Captain!"

So, that thing was their captain, huh? Well, good bye and good riddance -- hopefully without giving us any trouble.

"Go on, get out of here!" Brook called, still looking at the choking spider monster. "Return to your rightful owner!"

As the skeleton was speaking, the black blob shot out of the spider's mouth and snaked up into the sky, disappearing into the purplish clouds.

And then the Spider Monkey-monster, its colors strangely dulled, collapsed on the spider web, unmoving.

"What just happened?" I asked, blinking a couple times. There was no way that a regular sword would be able to do something like that...could it?

"No!" one of the Spider-Mice wailed. "Captain Tarnarog!"

"He killed him!" another one cried. "He killed our captain!"

"Technically, _dummkopf,_ he was already dead," I muttered. "And so are you."

I ended up getting a headache this time when I said the strange word, and it was followed by a...translation?

Wait a sec -- "Dummkopf" is a word that comes from an entirely different language? And it's another word for idiot?

"You obliterated the guy." Franky sounded amazed as he looked back at Brook. "How'd you _do_ that?"

"I purified him," Brook responded simply.

"Pura-what?" How Franky didn't know what the word meant, I haven't a clue.

"How?" I spoke up.

"It's him!" one of the Spider-Mice pointed a finger at Brook. "There's no doubt -- he's the humming swordsman! He's the one who reeked all that destruction here five years ago! We've gotta report this to the master! Hurry!"

With that, the spiders started to scurry off, disappearing behind the web and into whatever corridors lay behind it.

"Ah!" Brook looked at Robin and me, then turned to look at Franky. "I know that web feels stronger than steel, but you can melt right through it with fire."

"Really?" Franky used his Fresh Fire on one of the strands of webbing holding down his arm, and the stuff melted right off. A huge grin appeared on his face soon after. "Well, I'll be damned! You're right!"

"I thought so!" I crowed, grinning hugely. Fire started to work its way across my limbs instantly, and I sent it out in a quick blast along the webbing. Instantly, I felt the bonds that had been holding me up disappear, and I managed to land in a crouch as soon as I was released. Robin was able to land lightly on her high-heel boots without losing any balance at all.

Brook let out a yelp of surprise as I rose to my feet. "Oh, my! Did you manage to eat a Devil Fruit that allowed you to do that?"

I gave the skeleton a wide grin. "Nope! It's a power all my own!"

"Amazing! Perhaps an amazing woman like yourself would let me see your panties?"

My grin turned into a scowl. "No way. I am _not_ going to do that."

Brook laughed. "Ah, well. At least it was worth a shot." He looked around. "So, tell me, where are the others on that wonderful pirate crew of yours?"

Franky got to his feet, finally managing to destroy the rest of the webbing that had been holding him down. "Straw Hat and the rest of the crew got captured. So let's talk." He looked at Brook with a serious expression. "You seem to know a lot about this creepy island."

"I do," Brook responded, nodding. "It's just...I'm not really sure how to say this.... If your friends have already been captured, then there's a very high probability that it's too late to help them."

I looked at the skeleton in shock. "Too late? What do you mean?"

Franky, on the other hand, just got extremely angry and practically yelled over my own question. "Hey, wait! Whaddaya mean, too late?!"

"Will you please refrain from yelling at me?!" Brook yelped. He covered his face with his skeletal hands. "I can't bear to face such hostility!" He recovered a moment later, though, turning around to look away from us. "But then again, I am a skeleton, so I don't have a face. Yohohohoho! Skull Joke!"

Franky seemed to like the comment even less, because he aimed his Weapons Left at the skeleton.

"H-hey! Don't do that!" I moved in front of Franky, who looked down at me in surprise.

Robin put a hand on the barrel of Franky's built-in cannon. "Don't bother. He's already dead, remember?"

"Besides, he could be our only hope at taking out those zombies!" I added.

Franky glowered, but he lowered his weapon.

Brook calmed down in his laughter and half-turned to face us. "Anyway, try to be serious for a moment, here."

Franky quickly raised his cannon again. Again, Robin stopped him.

"I know he's annoying, but he's still dead," Robin pointed out.

"I tried to explain this while aboard your ship," Brook stated, ignoring Franky as he lowered his cannon. I got the feeling from the cyborg that, if Brook annoyed him again, the skeleton's head and afro were gonna go flying.

"There was a great time many years ago that I spent drifting aimlessly about the sea, lost and all alone. I thought that I'd finally charted my escape from this demonic sea when the rudder broke, and I was cast even further into the depths of this watery void. And then it happened...I suppose that it was about five years ago. Much in the same way that it happened to you, I came across the island of Thriller Bark."

Brook shrugged. "I was utterly desperate to escape the Florian Triangle, no matter the risk, so I took a chance and decided to scour the island, hunting for parts to fix the rudder." The skeleton shuddered. "All that was to be found on the island was a horde of monsters and zombies. It didn't take too long before they captured me, and brought me to this building -- the one behind you. It was here that I witnessed something incredible."

I glanced back at the open doors behind us, and the dark corridor beyond. "Incredible?" I thought that he would have said creepy instead.

"With me was a kung-fu dancer who had also been captured some time before," Brook continued. I looked back at the skeleton, frowning a bit at how he had described his fellow prisoner. "They brought him before a stitched-up corpse that they had referred to as a marionette. Before I knew it, one of the most frightening creatures I had ever seen appeared! And then...that dancer's shadow was ripped right from his body, and it was amputated."

I stiffened up a bit upon hearing that. "His shadow...was _taken_ from him?"

Something startled to ache at the back of my mind, and I shook my head, but the ache didn't fade.

"How was that even possible?" Franky asked in shock.

"I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it...luckily...I don't have eyes! Yohohohoho!"

That seemed to be the final straw for Franky. "Cut the crap, or I'm gonna beat you up!!"

"Now that I can approve of." Robin folded her arms across her chest, and Franky promptly _launched_ himself at the skeleton.

At the same time, the headache increased in strength, and I shut my eyes to see what exactly it was that was causing the problem.

** Memory Break **

_ "What are those things supposed to be?" I asked, frowning at the glass screen in front of me. It kinda looked like there was something on the other side, but it didn't quite look right -- almost as though it wasn't entirely there.... _

_ "They're called Heartless," came the reply from the figure to my right. His outline and features were fuzzy, however, so I wasn't able to figure out who he was. "Creatures made from the darkness of a person's heart. They steal hearts from people in order to make more of themselves." _

_ "Steal hearts?" I started mashing buttons on the device in my hands, sending one of the figures on the TV screen into a frenzy of movement as he cut into the black creatures with the ant antennae and the strange, beady yellow eyes. "How does that work? Is it real hearts or something else?" _

_ "As far as I can tell, they're talking about taking someone's memories, mind, and personality. And the shells that are left behind as a result do gain sentience, but they're not exactly supposed to exist. Yen Sid called them Nobodies." _

_ "So the Heartless are stealing souls," I commented dryly. "Great." _ ****

** Memory Break **

I blinked a couple times as the memory cleared, and I shook my head. Where in the world did _that_ come from? It felt like a really old memory, but I wasn't able to pinpoint when exactly it was that it had happened. And then there's the question of what exactly it was that I was doing there -- and who was it that was sitting next to me? He felt really familiar for some reason....

Brook let out a groan, and I glanced over. Upon seeing the skeleton collapsed on the ground, I glanced over at Franky, who had a grim expression on his face. It wasn't as dark as it had been, though, so I guess he had finished beating up Brook...for now.

"It didn't take him long to finish with the dancer and move on to my shadow," Brook spoke quietly from where he lay. "Once your shadow is taken, you fall lifeless to the floor. But the shadow remains active, struggling up until the moment its confined in the corpse. And once this act is complete...I witnessed the marionette go from lifeless meat to a full-blown dancing zombie!"

"You gonna explain this?" Franky asked, clearly sounding calmer.

"It sounds like the shadow acts like a surrogate soul for the whatever-it-is that happens to be dead," I gulped. _Just like how Heartless steal souls to make more of themselves...._ "But why the dancing part?"

"It's the shadows," Brook responded, getting to his feet. "It doesn't matter whom the corpse belongs to -- the shadows retain the characteristics of the soul they originate from. Of course, the shadow at your feet is the same. That reflection of your soul -- your 'other half,' if you will -- is intended to follow you from birth until death. Only one man possesses the loathsome ability to force those shadows to submit to him. One of the Seven Warlords...Gekko Moriah!"

I couldn't help but gasp at that. "Gekko Moriah?! But that's the guy that Luffy's planning on beating up!"

"He's endowed with the power of the Shadow Shadow Fruit," Brook continued, his voice taking on a darker tone.

"Devil Fruit powers," Franky muttered.

"So _he's_ the one who stole your shadow!" Robin realized.

"But why?" I frowned. "Does it have something to do with all the monsters that are around here?"

"So it would seem. The only materials needed to make a zombie are a corpse and the living shadow of some unfortunate individual. But the zombies, you see, are not merely corpses, but a collection of human and animal parts stitched together by Doctor Hogback, Moria's brilliant accomplice. He collects the corpses of legendary warriors from around the world and, using his medical expertise, outfits their bodies with new parts. And trust me, he's amassed quite the collection. There's a countless number of monstrosities stored away in his lab and ready to live again."

I shuddered at the tale. It was the second time that I had heard the name of Doctor Hogback, and I got the feeling that this was a guy that I definitely _didn't_ want to run into.

"Doctor Hogback, huh?" Robin seemed to recognize the name. "He was a well-renowned surgeon who disappeared some time ago. To think he's been using his skills to help a pirate ever since."

I looked over at her. "I wonder what it was that made him turn over to Moriah's side like that." I frown crossed my face as the Heartless creatures appeared at the back of my mind -- those Dream Eaters, too, come to think of it. "I wonder...."

Robin gave me a curious look, but I decided against saying anything.

Those creatures were attracted to the darkness in people's hearts, and I hadn't really seen any on the island yet...maybe there was a chance that they couldn't exist here? I certainly hoped so -- I didn't want my fellow crewmates to end up turning into Heartless and Nobodies...then who knows what sort of chaos would have followed?

"So, these zombies aren't really resurrected from the dead," Franky noted. "They've just got somebody else's soul working away inside their bodies."

"Or, at least, half of one," I spoke up.

"Precisely," Brook confirmed, nodding. "The personality and fighting ability comes from the shadow's original owner, but the physical strength is completely dependent on the corpse itself. When these two elements are both powerful, their combination creates a truly formidable zombie -- which is why Moriah is so eager to get his wicked hands on those with ample bounties on their heads."

"Meaning...the pirates who would technically be counted as big game," I realized.

"Well, that makes sense," Franky commented. "At least we know why we're being targeted now."

"I imagine that one of the greatest advantages for Moriah is the absolute obedience that zombies provide," Robin noted thoughtfully. "He needn't worry about winning the favor of their original personalities. A living army of such powerful fighters would be too difficult for anyone to control."

"Indeed," Brook responded. "And since the shadows he takes have the same abilities as their original owners, then he has no need for the less-manageable bodies they were attached to."

I didn't like the sound of that. "You don't mean that he--"

"No, he doesn't. The stronger the original owners are, the faster he sends them out to sea, before they wake up."

"But that means we've gotta find our guys!" Franky realized.

"They're all right for now," Brook stated quickly. "There's still time to save them."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"However, you must put your complete trust in me if you want to accomplish that, and my experience will have to serve as your guide."

"What?" Franky frowned at Brook. "Trust you? Why should I?"

I frowned at the cyborg. "Brook's been here before -- you saw what happened to that spider-monster -- and how the smaller ones reacted!" I motioned to the dead thing in the middle of the web, wondering when it was that it was going to actually start smelling more like a dead body than it already was. "He knows what to do around here."

Brook let out a shriek before he started to spin on one foot. "It's been years since I've had such an engaging conversation -- it's so much fun!"

Er....

I blinked a couple times before facepalming at Brook's antics.

"Are you going to tell us what to do or not?" Robin asked shortly. There was a dark air about her that clearly said she wanted the skeleton to stop spinning and acting like he was having the time of his life.

Brook stopped spinning rather abruptly. "S-sure."

Looks like Robin showed him.

I felt a tingling sensation at the back of my head, and my stomach started to turn itself in knots just seconds before a headache exploded behind my eyes. I let out a yell of pain and went over double, gripping my head as my vision blacked out for a moment.

It was at that point that I heard a laugh that sent shivers down my spine, and I saw something that looked like....

_ "Kishishishishi!" _

"Maria!"

My eyes snapped open, and I looked up. Seeing Franky standing in front of me, I blinked a couple times before shaking my head.

"I-I'm fine," I managed, getting back upright. "But I'm not so sure that Luffy is...." I bit my lower lip as Franky and Robin exchanged glances.

"What do you mean?" Brook asked in confusion.

I took in a breath to steady myself. "Besides being able to use fire without eating a Devil Fruit...I can see visions of things in other places or times without having to actually be there." I gulped. "And I just saw Luffy fall onto a checkered floor, knocked out...and without a shadow under him."

"Oh, dear." Brook hummed nervously. "It might be a good idea if the three of you returned to the ship."

"What?" Franky raised an eyebrow. "Return to the ship? Why do you want us to head back?"

"If your comrades have been captured -- and what you say is true, young lady -- I'm afraid that the worst may have come to pass. By now, and if not, sooner, then they will surely have had their shadows stolen."

I shuddered at the memory of the laugh that I had heard. Gekko Moriah did _not_ sound like someone that I wanted to run into -- especially if he could steal shadows.

"Even if that is the case, they won't die," Brook continued. "And their bodies will likely be taken back to your boat."

"Huh?" I looked at the skeleton in confusion, frowning. "But all that Moriah guy wanted was their shadows, right? Why would he want the real deals to be hanging around after he's taken them? Wouldn't he...." I trailed off, then blinked a couple times when I remembered that Brook said that Moriah wouldn't outright kill his shadowless victims.

"Yeah," Franky spoke up in agreement, ignoring the fact that I had stopped talking.

"I'll get to that in a minute," Brook promised. "Now, usually, when a shadow is taken, the victim immediately weakens and remains unconscious for...oh, about two days or so. If the victim is strong enough, then they'll put the bodies on a ship and send them to drift out in the sea -- which is why I'm urging you to return to yours. Any guesses why they would want to do this?"

"Well, I would assume its to prevent the victims from trying to take back their shadow," Robin commented thoughtfully, frowning.

"Makes sense," I muttered.

"Why don't they just kill them while they're unconscious and get it over with?" Franky countered, raising an eyebrow.

"That's something that they don't want to do, actually. Now, this is important, so be sure to pay close attention."

I blinked a couple times, then cocked my head out of curiosity. So, they _didn't_ want to kill their victims? But why?

"Firstly, even though the body and shadow have been separated, they still represent one being. Think of the shadow as the soul -- if the body dies, then the shadow disappears, as well, thusly killing the host zombie in the process."

I shuddered a bit at that, the memories of words coming into mind.

_ "If someone's heart is stolen, and what remains still has the will to live, the victim becomes what is known as a Nobody, a human shell that merely mimics the emotions that the person used to have." _

The old, wise voice that spoke those words made me shudder again. Did I _really_ want to equate that with what had happened to Luffy? N-no...the shadow is only half of the soul -- they're still themselves, just...missing a piece of themselves.

"Since they're trying to build an army of minions, this would certainly not bode well for them. Secondly, in the likely events that your friends have -- and most certainly have -- had their shadows stolen, they would most certainly still be alive, and their bodies would be returned to your ship as soon as possible."

Brook pointed at us dramatically. "Which is why the three of you must not lose your shadows as well. If you do, all will be lost, and you'll be forced to wander these seas aimlessly for all eternity. While you have this window of opportunity, you should use this time to attempt to awaken your comrades. Once you do, you must regroup and formulate a plan to reclaim their shadows. Do you understand?"

I considered the skeleton's words. There was certainly some weight to them -- had he attempted a plan similar to this before?

"Yeah, I think so." Franky gave a slight nod. "I guess your shadow story wasn't so crazy after all."

"Oh, by the way -- you should take these." Brook held up three small bags in his hands; I heard something shifting around inside them.

"What is it?" Robin moved forward and took one of the bags; Franky and I ended up following suit.

I shifted the bag in my hand around a bit, not exactly sure if I should open it up or not. "Feels like some kind of grain or something...but I don't think it's big enough to be rice...."

"It's the weakness of the zombies," Brook responded simply. He took a few steps away from us and towards the dead monster that he had taken out before pausing and turning around. "You've seen its power -- this is the weapon I used to defeat that Spider Monkey."

"Their weakness?" I looked at Brook in surprise. "Are you sure that you want to give this to us?"

"Oh, I have plenty more where that came from. Besides, it's easy enough to come by -- it's simply ordinary salt."

"Salt?" Franky looked dubious. "That's not exactly what I had in mind as the vanquisher of evil. Does it lift a curse or something?"

"Well, I suppose that would be one way of putting it, yes. The life of these reanimated zombies is brought about by a Devil Fruit power, and just as one who is a power holder is weakened by seawater, the salt in that water can also be used to unbind the shadow from a zombie, leaving them permanently deceased."

"Wow, that's pretty handy." I hefted the bag of salt, considering its weight. I wondered if it only took a little bit to take a zombie out -- if that was true, a little salt could go a long way.

Franky seemed to understand what it was Brook was saying. "Oh, I get it. So, when the Spider Monkey went down, that black thing that floated out afterwards was someone else's shadow, then."

"To think that something so simple would be their weakness," Robin murmured.

"I've been surprised enough times by weaknesses that I don't think that this would technically be considered 'simple' now." I hefted the bag again, then smirked. "I can't wait to use this myself."

"So, to put this information simply, just throw the salt in their mouths!" Brook started spinning around on one foot again. "That's the trick! Salt! Mouth! Deader than dead -- make no bones about it!"

"Pardon me, Brook," Robin spoke up again, "but how do you know so much about this island and its residents, and how do you know the zombies' weakness?"

Brook stopped spinning, and he seemed to grow somber. I remembered something that the Spider-Mice had said about the exact same time.

"According to those little moronic mice, he caused a lot of trouble for them five years ago," I noted. "Maybe that's why? When he was trying to get his shadow back, he must have found out about it completely by accident."

"Indeed, my young lady," Brook confirmed, his back to us. "It all relates back to an incident five years ago -- the time that I lost my shadow. I was sent out to sea like all the others, but I luckily managed to awake and retrace my path and return here. Once I did, I went to shore, and began my battle. I fought against the very zombie that had my shadow. Unfortunately, the outcome was a crushing defeat."

I winced a bit when I heard that. Hearing that the zombie was stronger than its original counterpart was probably not a good thing.

"Because I vowed to survive, no matter what I faced, _I ran._ Even if it was shameful, I had to keep on living. I had an obligation, you see. I was the only survivor of my crew. One day, I will escape these evil seas, and make good on the promises made by myself and my comrades. Until then, I _cannot die a second time._ Sadly, living longer hasn't helped me keep my promises or reach my goal at all. But this time, I'm back and I won't run away! Not until I defeat that man and reclaim my shadow!"

Brook suddenly paused, and he bent over a bit, his entire frame trembling. I could hear his bones rattling a bit from where I was standing between Franky and Robin. After a few minutes, he righted himself.

"I'm in a hurry," the skeleton stated, not looking back at us. "So, please excuse me. I'll be on my way now. Good luck to you."

I nodded slightly as Brook started walking around the dead spider monster, but Franky apparently had other ideas.

"Now, hold on a sec." Franky took a step forward while Brook paused. "While you're still willing to talk, there's one more burning question that I need an answer to."

Brook glanced back at us, almost expectantly. I gave the cyborg a curious question myself, feeling a little anxious about getting back to the ship.

What was it that Franky wanted to know?


	12. Luffy's got a Monster!

** Maria's POV **

"Listen, Franky," Robin stated as we dashed up the stairs.

Franky wiped an arm over his face, stopping his bawling for a moment as he wiped the snot and tears off his face. "What is it, Robin? I'm not crying! I'm not crying, you punk! Stop looking at me!"

"I don't think that's what she's going to say," I retorted, frowning at the cyborg and elbowing him in the side. I could feel the metal hiding under his skin, and was glad that I didn't end up hitting him harder than I already had. My eyes were a bit moist, but I didn't have any tears flowing -- and I wasn't bawling like the softie, either; my eyes were only stinging a bit because of the air.

"I wanted to know why you asked him about that," Robin continued, not looking in the cyborg's direction.

Franky's bawling got exponentially louder. "Leave me alone! I had my reasons, okay?" He put his arm over his face again, wiping away some of the tears and snot, but it only just kept coming back. "Aw, damn! I can't help it! I love that damn skeleton! He's the nicest guy in the whole world! It's not fair!"

Robin chuckled in amusement, a small smile coming to her face. "That's true."

"All the hardships in his life just piling one on top of another." I shook my head as we reached the top of the stairs. "Man....Ya gotta wonder which zombie it is that has his shadow."

"Well, it must be a--"

Franky's statement was suddenly cut short when the entire passageway started shaking at the same time that we heard what sounded like the roar of some kind of large monster.

I was somehow able to shift into a stance that let me stay up at the top of the stairs -- if only in a crouching position -- but the cyborg wasn't quite so lucky -- he bumped into a wall and was sent tumbling down the stairs head over heels. Robin also ended up collapsing to the floor, but she didn't tumble down like Franky did.

"Ow!" Franky called up from the bottom of the stairs. "What the hell?"

"Something big must've happened on the island somewhere," I commented, gritting my teeth a bit as I looked around. I looked over at Robin as she started to get to her feet. "Any idea what could have happened?"

Robin frowned, appearing concerned, but she shook her head. "Nothing that I can think of at the moment. We'll probably end up finding out about it sooner or later."

Franky dashed up the stairs again. "Come on -- we'd better get back to the _Sunny_ before the whatever-that-was gets to her."

"Right!" I gave a nod, and the three of us started running forward again down the corridor.

** Time Break **

I nearly tripped when I heard two very familiar screams over what sounded like moaning. My eyes widened in surprise, and I exchanged glances with Franky.

"That's Usopp and Chopper!" the two of us exclaimed at once.

"They mustn't have had their shadows stolen yet," Robin noted, sounding surprised.

"Then we'd better get to them before they are taken to that Moria guy and have them torn off." I summoned my phoenix staff, ready to bash some heads. "It sounds like they're having trouble with zombies, too, so this might be a good time to drop some salt down their throats."

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea." Franky gave me a grin. "Let's go!"

"If you two don't mind, I think that I'd like to do the honors first." Robin smiled slightly.

I frowned a bit. "Why you? I kinda want to bash some heads and pour it down their throats...."

"I think I've figured out what a decent amount is for the salt needed to purify a zombie," Robin explained. "I want to be able to test it out before you end up losing the amount that you have in your pocket."

I touched the lump in my jeans pocket absently, tapping it a couple times while I considered Robin's statement. I finally gave a nod. "Well, I guess."

"Sounds good to me." Franky gave a shrug.

It didn't take us too long in order to come upon them. It looked like Chopper and Usopp were being held in the center of a large group of zombies who were all pulling at the two, who were bawling and screaming loudly in fear.

"Shadows for our master!" I heard the zombies proclaim.

Robin grabbed a zombie that had started to wander near us and dropped a small ball of salt down its throat. Instantly, the thing started convulsing.

Franky grinned. "Then that's the amount!" He grabbed a zombie around it's neck and dropped the same amount of salt down its throat while I fished my bag of the mineral out of my pocket, wielding my staff with my right hand. I knew that electricity was going to be my best bet at this point, so I started summoning the sparks that I was going to need in order to freeze up the zombies and pour their doom down their throats.

"Give me your shadow," moaned a zombie that was coming towards me.

I stuck the head of my staff in its chest and promptly zapped it before tossing a small ball of salt down its throat.

"Not a chance," I retorted, watching as its own shadow shot out of its mouth. As the thing collapsed, I turned and looked at the other zombies, who were watching the three of us take out the undead with expressions of shock and fear.

Good.

I proceeded to freeze five at once with a Shock Wave before dropping salt down their throats.

"Get your hands off of my bros," Franky stated in a serious tone from nearby. I watched as a zombie that was embedded in a picture released a shadow and dropped, never to rise from the grave ever again. "I ain't gonna warn you again, got it?"

I shot a sinister grin at the group of zombies that were watching us with open mouths; Usopp and Chopper were clearly seen among them, watching us with amazement clear on their faces.

"Hey, ten points if you get the guys in the front, a hundred if you manage to get the ones next to Usopp and Chopper," I stated cheerily, grinning. I sent a blast of electricity towards the zombies. "Shock Wave!"

Some of the zombies scattered, but the rest stood frozen for a few seconds. Usopp and Chopper, freed, started to crawl across the zombies' heads while I took pot shots and was somehow able to get the salt bits down the throats of the zombies in the front. I wasn't about to waste any ammo trying to get the ones further in the back, but I still kept track of my points.

"These guys know our secret!" one of the zombies yelped. "Just who are they?!"

"Robin! Franky! Maria!" Usopp and Chopper looked at the three of us with teary relief.

It was at this point that Franky and I both realized something, but the cyborg was the one who said something about it.

"Damnit, we're too late," Franky muttered. "We lost Nami, huh?"

"It's okay," Robin responded lightly, smiling. "We'll save her."

"You got that right!" I smirked in agreement. "How do you two feel about that idea?"

Usopp and Chopper hugged each other, laughing and crying at once. I guess they just didn't know what to say at this point. I can't blame them for that, either.

We made quick work of the remaining zombies, me freezing up their muscles with Shock Wave after Shock Wave while Franky and Robin tossed the salt down the throats of the zombies. I could hear Usopp and Chopper making cries of amazement behind us.

"Come on -- we'd better get back to the ship!" Franky motioned for us to follow him as the last zombie was finished off, and we started running down the stairs.

"Why are we going this way?" Usopp piped up. I noticed that he wasn't crying anymore and looked like his usual self.

"We were told that they took the stairs to transport people whose shadows have been cut," Robin explained.

I remembered what Brook had told us and nodded in agreement.

"That makes sense," Usopp commented, frowning. "They took Luffy here."

"Luffy?" I repeated in surprise. "Does that mean that you guys saw him get his shadow taken?"

Usopp gave a grim nod. "Yeah. We were headed this way, too, right before Nami got kidnapped!"

"I'm so worried about her," Chopper added, running in his Walk Point. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Yeah -- if they'd wanted her dead, they wouldn't have captured her. We'll get her back, no doubt."

"Exactly." I nodded. I was partially distracted, though -- Usopp and Chopper had seen Luffy? How had they managed to see that and come out with their shadows still on their person?

"The best thing we can do for now is get back to the _Sunny,"_ Franky remarked from in front of me. "We'll regroup there and wake up the other guys...and take back their shadows!"

"But this place is crawling with zombies!" Chopper pointed out. "This won't be easy."

I smirked a bit as Usopp looked over at us with a curious frown. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask -- how did you manage to beat those zombies, anyway?"

"It's another secret that the skeleton guy told us about," Franky explained.

"Yeah -- he came here five years ago and caused a lot of havoc!" I added, grinning. "The zombies' weakness isn't fire -- it's salt!"

Chopper and Usopp exchanged looks of amazement.

"Even zombies have something that can hurt them!" Chopper exclaimed.

"So by throwing it in their mouths, it purifies them?" Usopp guessed.

"You've got it!" I think my grin got even wider.

"You did just see it in action," Franky added, glancing over at the sniper.

"By the way," Robin spoke up, "do you have any idea what that monstrous roar was we heard earlier? We couldn't see anything from where we were."

"Considering how loud the roar was, I don't think I would have wanted to," I commented, remembering what had happened before we had come upon Usopp and Chopper.

"I was kind of wondering where it had come from, but then we ran into you," Franky added.

Usopp's expression shifted to one that was extremely grim. "That roar was Luffy."

I did a double-take. "Say _what?_ How could our captain make a noise like that?"

"Don't worry -- we're gonna tell you everything that we saw. I don't think you're going to like what you're going to hear, though."

I thought back through all the bad news that I had heard from when I was a Pokemon Trainer -- and what I could remember of the Dream Eaters and the black ant-monsters. Whatever bad news they had to tell us....

I bit my lower lip as we broke out of the mansion and started down the stairs. "You may as well tell us some of this now so that we can have a better idea of what we're going up against."

Usopp hesitated, then nodded. "A-all right. Well, we ended up hiding inside of a zombie when we were running from a guy who was able to turn invisible, and we had to hide in there until we could find a chance to escape. We ended up seeing Luffy get his shadow cut off by some kind of huge monster, and then they went into a freezing cold fridge!"

"And then the huge monster stuffed Luffy's shadow into the zombie!" Chopper added. "That's what made the roaring noise!"

"This thing is even bigger than a giant, too!" the sniper added.

We reached the base of the stairs and started running across a landing; I was mulling over what Usopp had said in my mind. Luffy's shadow was powering a zombie bigger than a giant? I could remember the ones from Enies Lobby...how could this zombie be even bigger? And what about the monster that had cut Luffy's shadow off? Was that--

"So you're saying that this thing's even bigger than a giant?" Franky asked. "What is it, some kinda monster?"

"Yeah," Usopp confirmed, glancing back at the way we had come. "That huge crash you heard and all that crazy yelling came from the same creature! In other words, Luffy's zombie is going on a rampage!"

"That doesn't sound good," I voiced. "Man, if only I had Rayquaza or maybe one of my other huge Pokemon in order to go after that thing...Kyogre would probably be able to do something with her Water Spout. If only I could figure out how to contact her...."

"Kyogre?" Chopper cocked his head.

"A giant killer whale of a Pokemon. She's got some pretty powerful control over the sea, too, so try to pit a zombie against her and --" I made a motion like I was slitting my throat, smirking, as we started to run up a set of stairs ahead of us.

"Wow! Do you think you could get her here like you did the Cleanse Tags?"

I frowned, considering that for a moment, then shook my head. "I don't think I can. I mean, Cleanse Tags aren't exactly alive, and Kyogre could be doing something important right now."

Always take the importance of the Pokemon into account before asking them to come to your help. I learned that at the start of my adventures there.

"Hey, look!" Usopp pointed ahead of us. "I can see the _Sunny!"_

I looked up at the stairs we were running up, and I caught sight of the familiar pirate flag that was waving in the wind.

"Good," Franky commented. "And it looks like what that skeleton said was right."

"Indeed," Robin agreed.

We reached the top of the stairs, Usopp falling behind us as the rest of us paused at the top...which was at the top of a wall that was right over the main entrance of the island.

As I blinked in surprise, Franky nodded in understanding.

"Ah, so that's how it works," the cyborg noted. "Land right here on the island, take a little stroll through this gate and up the stairs...." He glanced back at where we had come. "And before you know it, you walk straight into the boss' room, serving him your shadow on a silver platter."

"We haven't seen his room yet," I commented, frowning a bit. "And I hope that I don't."

Usopp finally managed to reach us, panting heavily. "H-hey! Someone lowered the stairs on the _Sunny._ I wonder why they'd do that."

"Probably to get Luffy onto the ship," I commented, frowning. "But how are we going to get down?"

"Looks like there's a ladder over here." Usopp moved across the wall and towards the wooden construct. "Come on -- Luffy and the others are probably already in there."

Usopp started down the ladder, Franky and the rest of us following after the sniper. The ladder was actually pretty stable for being perched so precariously on the wall like it was, surprisingly, and I'm glad that I didn't end up falling off and plummeting to the docks.

Usopp dashed ahead up us and ran up onto the deck, the rest of us following at a more leisurely pace. As soon as he got up on the ship, he let out a yell of shock and anger.

"I don't know what happened while we were gone, but they totally wrecked the place!" Usopp turned around, waving his arms around angrily.

"That is probably the zombie's work." Robin eyed the deck. "Their footprints are everywhere."

I glanced down before my nose wrinkled in disgust at the green marks all over the wood. "Yuck. If that's not proof that they're all slowly decaying, I don't know what is."

"Do you think they're still here?" Chopper asked nervously.

"If they are...." I hefted my bag of salt and grinned. "We'll be able to take care of them, easy-peasy."

We climbed up the stairs onto the deck and looked around at the main deck of the _Sunny._

"Man, they really made a mess of this place," I commented, frowning at the boxes, food, and barrels scattered all over the place. All the doors were wide open, too, and it looked like they had pulled blankets out of our quarters....

The quarters! My stuff!

"My Berry trees!" I scrambled up the stairs and ran towards the back of the ship, where my Berry trees were hopefully still standing.

I came to a stop in front of the plots of dirt that I had planted my trees in, and let out a sigh of relief when I saw that the trees were still there, but without any Berries. I guess that was a mercy.

I scrambled for the girls' quarters next, seeing that the others hadn't moved from the main deck yet. I disappeared into the open doorway, and groaned at the mess that I found: blankets scattered all over the place, Nami's and Robin's clothes thrown out of their closets.... oi. These zombies were nothing but thorough.

I made my way to the back of the room and saw that they had left my books sitting on the ground, open wide and clearly ruffled with. It didn't look like any pages had been torn out, thankfully -- and there were empty sacks scattered around the room. I realized that they had once held the Berries that I had managed to harvest.

I growl made its way out of my throat. "Great; just great. Looks like I have to start stockpiling all over again."

"Hey, Maria! We found Luffy and the others!"

I looked over at the door to the girls' quarters and caught sight of Usopp standing in the entrance. "Really? Where were they?"

"In the galley." Usopp's mouth twitched, like he was going to smirk, but the expression faded. "Man, they really did a number on this place, didn't they?"

"Yeah. I'm just glad that they left my Berry trees standing, because they made off with all the Berries that I had in here." I motioned to the sacks scattered around the back end of the room as I made my way through the mess to the door. "So, is Luffy awake?"

Usopp shook his head. "No; and Sanji and Zoro aren't either."

"Sanji and --" I cut myself off. "Oh no."

Usopp nodded grimly. "Come on -- I'll show you."

I stepped out of the girls' quarters, and the two of us made our way towards the galley.


	13. Crew Pow-wow

** Maria's POV **

"They really didn't leave a stone unturned, did they?" I stepped into the galley after Usopp, looking around at the mess...before I caught sight of the three who had disappeared on us earlier.

"Merlin, Chaos, and Aurora...." I blinked a couple times while an unnerved expression came over my face. "Sheesh, what the heck happened to them?"

Honestly, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at how Sanji's, Zoro's, and Luffy's faces had been pulled and stretched in every direction possible for them. It kinda reminded me of a pink puffball Pokemon I had been warned about -- something about it putting people to sleep and then drawing all over their faces. Except...well, this kinda took it a step further.

"They really had a field day with them since they're knocked out," Chopper commented, nodding. A frown came over the reindeer's face. "We don't really know how to wake them up, though...do you have any ideas, Maria?"

"Uh...can't say that I do." I scratched the back of my head. "I mean, how are they gonna react if we do manage to wake them up?"

"Shaking them won't do any good," Usopp said. "I've already tried that."

"Let me try something." Franky grinned while he started cracking his knuckles, stepping towards the three knocked-out pirates.

He promptly started pummeling the three of them. "Get off your asses, damnit! We're in a lot of trouble here! Take that crap off your face and get with the program!"

All _that_ managed to do was destroy the chairs and the pranks that the zombies had pulled, leaving Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy collapsed on the floor with bumps and bruises all over the place.

I winced a bit. "Ow. That's gonna hurt in the morning."

"Let's try this, then." Franky aimed his left arm at the three of them. "Step aside, you guys -- I'm gonna use my bazooka."

"Uh...is that wise in here?" I asked, frowning.

Before our shipwright could do anything, though, Usopp stepped in front of Franky, holding a hand in front of the cannon.

"I think I might have a more delicate solution," Usopp stated. He glanced back at the rest of us, then looked at Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy. "In times like these...."

The sniper took in a breath, then yelled out something that I had _not_ been expecting.

"THERE'S A BEAUTIFUL LADY SWORDSMASTER WITH A WHOLE BUNCH OF MEAT!!!"

I couldn't help it. As soon as I saw the shiver that went down the spines of all three of them, I doubled over in laughter. I was only able to watch out of the corner of my eye as the three of them started to slowly get to their feet rather unsteadily.

"A lady?" Sanji asked horsely.

"With meat?" Luffy continued.

"And swords?" Zoro finished.

Their reactions to Usopp's statement got me to laugh even harder. "W-wow, Usopp! How'd you know that would get them up?!"

"You guys are hopeless!" Chopper declared.

Usopp chuckled a bit, rubbing a finger under his nose. "When you've been with them for as long as I have, it gets to be kind of hard not to notice what it is that they like to mutter in their sleep."

My laughter turned into snickers, and I had to take a few deep breaths in order to calm myself down before looking at Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. All three looked like they had been rather rudely awakened a few hours too early...that is, until Luffy's eyes suddenly snapped open to their full size.

"That bastard!" Luffy suddenly leapt forward, looking like he was ready to take someone out. Franky grabbed hold of our captain before he could move too far, though. "Where's my shadow?!"

"It ain't here, you idiot!" Franky barked back. "Take a look at where you are!"

Zoro rubbed his head, still looking half-asleep. Sanji looked the same...except he still had a chopstick up his nose from the zombies' antics. I guess he wasn't awake enough to notice that it was there yet.

Luffy blinked a couple times, and his raised arm relaxed as he pulled back from Franky and started to look around. "Huh? This is--"

"Yeah. The _Sunny_." Franky nodded.

Luffy looked around for a moment, then dove for the back of the galley -- specifically, a room that was hidden in the kitchen. I guess that's where Sanji keeps all the food.

"W-wait, but--" Zoro shook his head as a frown started to form on his face. "Wh-what are we doing back here all of a sudden?" He ended up looking down...and his expression shifted to one that clearly said he didn't like what he was seeing. "Oh, crap. It wasn't a dream after all, was it? I really lost my shadow! This feels weird...."

I shuddered a bit, thinking back to one of the memories that I had managed to recover. "It could be worse, depending on where you where when it happened."

Zoro looked over at me, a frown appearing on his face. "What are you talking about?"

"Well--"

I was interrupted from explaining about the whole "Heartless/Dream Eater" thing when Luffy barreled back into the room, carrying a huge hunk of cheese and what looked like an open can of something.

"You guys! This is an emergency -- someone came in here and stole all our food while we were out!"

How Luffy managed to say that with his cheeks as full as they were, I have no clue.

"Now I'm mad," Luffy growled.

"It was probably the zombies that did it," I commented, "considering what they did to the rest of the ship. They didn't even leave the Berries I had hidden in our room alone, and they tore apart all the beds, too. I guess I'm just glad that they left my books here."

"The guy with his mouth full is complaining that there's nothing to eat?" Sanji had apparently woken up the rest of the way and had managed to remove the chopstick that had been up his nose. Now there was an unlit cigarette sitting between his teeth. "I'm mad, too, but at least they left all the dried food behind."

"Who cares about that stuff?!" Luffy roared. "I need MEAT!!"

Franky didn't look like he knew what to say to the comment. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"I screwed up...." Zoro facepalmed, gritting his teeth. "How could I let this happen?! I really let my guard down!"

I blinked a couple times, and I got a flash of two boys that I'd seen already in my visions -- a tall teenager with spiky red hair and a short temper to match, and a shorter boy with silver hair that fell over his eyes, which seemed to have a haunted look about them.

Where did _that_ come from?

"They took our lunchboxes," Luffy complained. "There's nothing but cheese! No fair -- why cheese?"

Sanji looked around the galley. "So, where's Nami? Is she waiting outside or something?"

Usopp and Chopper looked at each other nervously. I knew that what they were going to say wasn't going to be liked...but I was kinda wondering what had happened to Nami, too.

"A-about that...." Usopp and Chopper looked at each other nervously again. "Sh-she kinda got...kidnapped."

The last word came out so quietly that I had hardly heard it, but it was apparently enough for Sanji. He barreled straight at the sniper and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"You let some bastard kidnap my angel?!" Sanji roared, glaring down rather frighteningly at Usopp. "Why didn't you chase them to the ends of the world?!"

"I-it's not really our fault, okay?!" Usopp stammered. "This particular guy is kinda hard to catch, you see?"

"You tell me who he is and where I can find him. I'll hunt him down right now and bring her back!"

"Wait! Let me explain the situation here! It's sorta complicated!"

"And we've got some things to tell you guys, too," I spoke up, looking at our three shadowless crewmates.

Usopp cleared his throat. "So, this is the deal, you guys. Even if it kills us, we have two things that we have to get back, no matter what."

"Food. And Nami." Luffy paused. "Oh -- and our shadows, too. That's three."

Usopp frowned. "Okay, uh...I'm not really sure that one of those makes the list. Food is great and all, but let's just focus on Nami and the shadows for now."

"Sounds good to me," I agreed, nodding.

"You mind explaining what happened to Nami?" Sanji ground out, sending a dark look in Usopp's direction.

The sniper looked a little nervous for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "S-sure. Well, it kinda happened like this...."

** Time Break **

"He's...he's going...to MARRY HER?!"

I let out a squeak and jumped back as Sanji suddenly exploded into flame right there on the open deck. And it was _actual_ flames, too -- I didn't think that Sanji could do something like that.

I ended up muttering "Flash Fire" under my breath and absorbed some of the flames that Sanji was releasing. It would give me some of my energy back for the upcoming battles, at least -- Arceus knew I needed it.

"NO WAY IN HELL! LEMME AT HIM!!" Sanji roared.

"Wow, this guy must be pretty brave if he wants to marry Nami," Luffy commented, an impressed expression coming over his face.

"Or pretty stupid," I quipped, moving away from Sanji to let him burn. It wasn't harming the deck any, so I figured that we'd probably be fine with letting him stand there.

"And what's this about me being a monster?" Luffy frowned at Usopp and Chopper, who had ended up leading the rest of us out on deck in order to point out the ladder we had come down earlier. "Why does my shadow get to do all the cool stuff?"

"I don't think it's cool so much as dangerous," I responded, frowning. "Man, I wish that I could get even one of my stronger Pokemon here...they would be a great help at this point...."

"So, Usopp, you guys already saw who or what has Sanji's and Luffy's shadows, right?" Zoro asked.

Usopp whimpered. "No one told me we were fighting one of the Seven Warlords...."

"Can I just go crawl in a hole and wait there until this is over?" Chopper whined.

"You guys were all business just a second ago," Franky commented from where he sat on the bench surrounding the main mast.

"We didn't know any better!" Usopp and Chopper responded instantly.

I sighed and shook my head. "Makes you wonder if we should have told them or not...."

"Eh, they would have figured it out eventually." Zoro shrugged. "This saves us the trouble."

"Oh wait -- I almost forgot!" Usopp dashed into one of the open door.

"Hey, wait a sec...." Luffy turned and looked at Zoro. "If you put a shadow in a zombie, they act like that person, right?"

"That's pretty much what we were told, yeah." I nodded.

"Then I think I've seen your zombie, Zoro."

The swordsman raised an eyebrow at Luffy's statement. "Oh, yeah? What kinda guy was he?"

"Well, he looked just like you...but since he was wearing wooden clogs, I could tell he wasn't you."

I blinked a couple times before frowning a bit. "Now that you mention it...I think I might have seen him, too, but then I got distracted by one of those stupid zombies in armor. It must've been right before you ended up getting stuffed in that coffin...." My frown deepened. "But I didn't really see all that much of a resemblance to Zoro. Sure, the guy kinda _looked_ like him when the dust was up everywhere, but I think we were just seeing Zoro's shadow. The zombie attached to it had black hair instead of green, and it kinda looked like he had the head of a snake or something coming out of the top of his head...."

"How in hell does _that_ look like _me_?!" Zoro demanded, turning sharply to glare at Luffy.

"I dunno, he just does." Luffy shrugged.

Zoro growled a bit, frowning at Luffy before turning and looking at the others. "So, if we find this guy with the clogs, the dog-penguin thing with Sanji's shadow, and Luffy's giant monster with his shadow, all we gotta do is throw some salt in their mouths and get our shadows back? Is that it?"

"Uh-huh." Franky gave a nod. "That's what it looks like."

I heard a _thud_ nearby, and I turned my head before frowning a bit. "Usopp, what are you doing with that thing?" I eyed the red-and-white checkered platform that he had just pulled out of the guys' quarters.

Usopp simply smirked before he started doing something with a small pile of tools that he had pulled out.

"Nice job on figuring out their weaknesses," Zoro added as Sanji started to come back over. The cook looked a little more calm, but not by much. "How'd you pull that one off?"

"Save your thanks for the afro skeleton," Franky responded. "Not only did he know how to beat the zombies, he also told us you'd be waiting back here at the _Sunny._ "

"And that you might have been out of it for two days if we didn't do anything," I added.

A large grin crossed Luffy's face. "What? You ran into Brook again?"

"Yup." I smirked.

"But I feel a little bad since I asked him a pretty cruel question," Franky admitted.

Hmm? Oh, _that_ question.

"Even though you wanted him to join the crew, when I met the guy I didn't give him a fair chance. Truth be told, I barely even thought of him as human. But once I actually took the time to talk to him for a second, I found out that he has a real backbone."

Something in me wanted to groan a bit at the unintended skeleton joke, but I knew that this was too serious a matter to just go ahead and do that. So I kept my mouth shut.

"Other than the obvious, I mean," Franky added quickly. He paused for a moment, then continued. "What I'm saying is...I was wrong. That skeleton's a real man. I...I shouldn't have said it, but...."

I thought back to what had happened while Franky continued talking, since I had been there when the cyborg had asked Brook the question.

** Memory Break **

"I'm in a hurry," Brook said, glancing back at us. "So, please excuse me." He started to move so that he could go around the dead Spider Monkey. "I'll be on my way now."

Franky stopped Brook with a question before the skeleton could get too far. "Hold on a second. While you're still in the mood to talk, there's one more burning question that I still need an answer to. If you go out in public like that, you know how people are going to react, don't ya?"

I flinched a bit at the thought. Yes, Brook was going to have a bit of a hard time.

"I mean, you're a talking skeleton," Franky continued. "There's no way that someone as creepy as you is going to make friends with anyone. People are gonna run away in terror."

I thought back to all the Pokemon that I had managed to befriend, and frowned at the comment the cyborg was making. I had met plenty of Pokemon that could be considered ugly or terrifying, and I had managed to befriend them without too much trouble. Were people really that terrified of someone who looked as drastically different as Brook did?

Well, I didn't have all my memories back yet, so...I didn't really know too well, did I?

"Franky, why are you telling him that?" Robin asked, frowning at the cyborg.

Franky ignored the question. "Even if you could see the sun and make it out of these cursed waters, your life would still be full of suffering. You've had it rough for a long time already...are you sure you could handle that? After all, you said before that you were so lonely that you wanted to die, right?"

I let out a noise of nervousness. "Franky...."

"If I were you, I would have given up on life a long time ago," Franky continued. "And yet, you still act like a gentleman. You laugh, you sing...you pretend like you don't have a care in the world. What is it that's keeping you alive? You said you'd made a promise to a friend -- what is it? How could it be so important?"

Brook laughed softly. "Interested in me, are you? The story is quite simple: at a certain point in the past, before we came to these waters, my crew left behind a good friend of ours. It was a troubling situation, but we did it out of necessity. The only consolation that we could offer this friend was the promise that we would return someday, no matter the cost."

Brook put his hands behind his back and glanced back at us. "But then the crew was annihilated, and the promise that we made...was left unfulfilled. Since I am the only survivor, it is my duty to return to our friend...even if I must bear sad news. How long as it been since we died? I've lost count, but it's been more than fifty years, now."

"Fifty?" I repeated, eyes widening. "Whoa...that's a long time to leave a promise like that."

"You're talking ages ago here," Franky agreed. "Hell, I wasn't even born yet! I hate to break it to ya, buddy, but there's no way your friend's still there waiting for ya."

"You don't know that!"

I flinched back a bit at Brook's harsh exclamation.

The skeleton sighed. "But it's true that he would have every right to leave by now. I realize I may be foolish to believe he's still there...however, if by some chance he did believe in our promise and is waiting for us -- even after all these years -- then the loneliness he's suffering would be far worse than my own. How sad he must be...wondering if we betrayed him...wondering if our promise was a _lie._ Yet still waiting for us in the same place."

My eyebrows knit together. I was really starting to feel for the poor skeleton...the Pokemon that I had made friends with were probably wondering where exactly I was right at this moment. I wish there was a way that I could contact them somehow....

"Y-you're right, but--"

Franky was cut off as Brook continued talking.

"The name of the friend that we left at the cape, swearing to meet again is...Laboon." Brook's head tilted back a bit -- I could only tell because the top hat on his afro shifted. "He was only just a child, and we couldn't take such a young whale on a dangerous journey like that.

Wait -- what? This isn't a human we're talking about?

"A whale?" Franky repeated, also sounding like he didn't quite believe what he was hearing.

"Yes," Brook replied softly. "I can only imagine how big he's grown since then."

"You think that whale understood your promise?" Franky asked.

"Animals can be pretty intelligent," I commented. "If they shared a deep bond with each other, I wouldn't be surprised."

Brook glanced back at the three of us and gave a slight nod. "I believe he understood us in his own way. And I also believe he's still waiting for us at that cape, staring longingly at the Grand Line.... He probably wants to hear us play our cheerful music again...dancing and singing.... Although, I suppose it's a bit late for that, now. Even if I am to return, I don't think he'll forgive us for running away and dying like that. But no matter how much he resents me for forcing him to suffer all of these years...death is _never an apology!"_

I could feel my eyes starting to mist up. Not only had the skeleton been through a lot...but he had a promise to fulfill, and he wasn't about to give up on it.

"Because when a man makes a promise, he never stops fighting until he fulfills it!"

That's absolutely incredible....

** Memory Break **

"So, there you have it."

I blinked a couple times, bringing myself back to the present at Franky's words.

"That's the whole story," the cyborg stated.

There was a weird look on Luffy's face. "Laboon...."

I started to look around at the others on the deck, and I blinked a couple times out of confusion when I saw the recognition that was in Zoro's, Sanji's, and Usopp's eyes.

Wait -- recognition?

"This is crazy," Usopp stated in shock. "What are the chances?"

"I'll be damned," Sanji muttered.

I frowned in confusion. "What are you guys talking about?"

The four exchanged glances, and realization spread across Usopp's face.

"Oh, yeah." Usopp looked back at us. "You guys weren't with us then."

"When?" I cocked my head curiously.

"We've met that whale before," Luffy stated seriously. "And we know that promise."


	14. Thriller Bark's Gonna Fall!

** Maria's POV **

I couldn't believe my ears.

"H-hold on -- you know him?!" Franky couldn't believe what he had just heard, either. "That's crazy! How is that possible?"

"When did you run into him?" I asked, frowning.

"It was when we passed through to the Grand Line at the Twin Capes," Sanji explained. "That damned giant whale was blocking the entrance and gave us a damn good scare. We nearly ran into the thing, too."

Luffy crossed his hands over his chest and scowled. "It knocked Merry's head off, the stupid whale."

"Because of Luffy's idiotic temper, Laboon swallowed the ship with us aboard," Sanji continued, ignoring our captain's comment.

I blinked a couple seconds. "Wait -- Laboon _swallowed_ you guys?" I got a minor headache, and a small flow of information came to mind...something about a guy named Jonah who got into the same situation and...a marionette that could walk and talk? I caught sight of the boy with the silver hair, too....

"And this is the same Laboon as Brook's?" Robin asked.

Sanji nodded. "Has to be. There was an old lighthouse keeper that lived inside its gut and told us all about the whale."

"What?!" Chopper looked at a loss for words.

"How can someone live inside a whale's gut?" I asked, frowning. "I'd think that'd be a little hard, considering that all the acid that's got to have."

Luffy snickered. "That flower-head guy."

"Flower-head...?"

"Not only did he go inside him, he also took care of him and treated his wounds," Sanji added.

"What's a lighthouse keeper know about wounds?" Franky asked.

"Plenty, if he's got medical experience." Usopp looked over at us. "He was apparently the doctor on a pirate crew at one time."

"Really? He was a pirate?" My eyebrows arched in surprise.

"Wow." Chopper sounded impressed. "But how'd the whale get so hurt that he needed a doctor? What happened?"

"It was at the Red Line. Grief drove him to bash his head against the dividing wall." Sanji took a drag of his cigarette. "The grief of abandonment. He spent fifty years waiting for his friends there, believing they would return to him after their voyage."

There was that amount of time again...I couldn't imagine waiting on a promise for that long....

"I couldn't believe it, but somehow Luffy managed to convince him to stop trying to break through the wall like a damned idiot," Sanji said. "Even now, he's alive out there, waiting at that cape for his friends to return."

"It's an incredible story," Usopp commented from where he was sitting. A smile came across his face. "Talk about true friends. He kept his promise to them for more than half a century."

"And to think," Zoro continued, "We met one of Laboon's friends by complete coincidence." He looked over in the direction of the mansion on Thriller Bark. "Wonder what that skeleton's doing right now."

I frowned a bit at that. "Um...I think he's going after his own shadow. He mentioned something about that when he told us what the zombies' weakness was earlier."

Zoro glanced over at me, an expression of minor interest coming over his face.

Franky seemed to think that this was a good point in time to start bawling. Loudly. "I love that bonehead and his stupid whale!"

I flinched at his loud wailing. Seriously, this guy claimed to be a manly man and was an absolute softie....

"SHUT UP!!" Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp all barked at once, fingers in their ears.

Luffy started laughing as Franky calmed himself down. "I'm so pumped, guys! He's a musician, a talking skeleton, has an _afro,_ does that 'Yohoho!' thing, and he was one of Laboon's best friends! Even if I've gotta force him to, he's gonna join our crew!"

Luffy looked around at the rest of us. "We've got ourselves a musician! Any objections?"

I gave a smirk. "None from me."

Robin chuckled. "Would it really change your mind, even if we did?"

"I want him to join the crew, too, no question!" Usopp agreed, grinning.

"I give you total approval!" Franky wailed, tears streaming down his cheeks in rivers.

"Same here!" Chopper piped up. He looked like he was in the same situation as Franky.

"Before I can answer such an easy question," Sanji spoke up. "I'VE GOT TO PUT A STOP TO THIS SHOTGUN WEDDING OF NAMI'S!!"

I jumped back in surprise when Sanji roared out in anger, flames coming up again. If I was the guy who had taken Nami, I don't think that I'd live to see the sunrise, considering how mad Sanji was getting.

"What about you, Zoro?" Luffy looked around, then ran for the side of the ship that was closest to the entrance of Thriller Bark. "Hey, Zoro! Where are you going?!"

"Huh?!" I dashed over to the side of the ship and looked down, catching sight of Zoro standing on the dock. "What are you doing, setting off without us?"

"Going off to get started," Zoro called back without turning around. "We've got a lot we need to get back, you know."

I frowned a bit. "Yeah, that's true...."

Luffy laughed. "All right, everybody -- it's time to get serious! Prepare for the counterattack! We're gonna put Thriller Bark in a watery grave!"

"YEAH!!" we all yelled at once. Then we moved off the ship and down onto the dock to join Zoro.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked, looking around at everyone else.

"All right, we got our work cut out for us." Zoro looked around at all of us. "I doubt that we're just going to turn the corner and find our zombies with our shadows in 'em."

"Not only that, but Luffy's zombie is a complete freak of nature!" Chopper exclaimed. "He's six times bigger than any giant! I'm not sure anyone could beat him!"

"It's true." Usopp turned to look at Luffy. "And not only is he huge, but he also has your shadow and all of your fighting skills."

"Does that mean he has his Devil Fruit ability, too?" I asked, cocking my head slightly.

"Like that makes any damn difference," Zoro muttered.

"Wait, what?" Usopp looked at Zoro in confusion.

"What's the point in pissing our pants over how big and strong they are when we've still gotta beat 'em if we want to get our shadows back?"

"He's got a point." I nodded slightly. "I've faced opponents that I've been nervous about taking down before -- if only because of their sheer size and power. Everything ended up turning out all right in the end, though, so there really wasn't anything to worry about."

"Well, we don't really have to worry about the zombies," Luffy commented, his eyes becoming shadowed under the brim of his straw hat. Franky and I looked over at him as our captain continued, "Although I kinda want to see how cool mine is."

"What are you talking about?" Zoro gave Luffy an irritated look. "Do you want to hide from the sun for the rest of your life? We've gotta get our shadows back from these ghouls."

"Yeah, but there's another way," Luffy insisted. "You remember what that geezer-guy told us? All we gotta do to free the shadows is put an end to Gekko Moriah."

That got mixed reactions from the crew, going anywhere from amusement (Robin) to surprise (Franky) to irritation (Zoro). I just raised an eyebrow at the idea.

"You really want to go for the leader of this zombie horde?" I asked, blinking.

"He really said that, huh?" Sanji muttered. "Luffy...always gets straight to the point."

"Up there." Luffy pointed back the way we had come in order to get to the ship. "Gekko Moriah's just sitting on his big ass waiting for us."

"What?!" Usopp turned sharply to look at Luffy. "Are you nuts?!"

"What do you mean?" Luffy turned to look at the sniper. "His butt's asking for a kicking, so that's what I'm gonna do. And then all the shadows will return." Luffy turned to look at our cook. "Sanji, fire up. You're rescuing Nami."

"YEAH!!" Sanji raised his fists in the air before he exploded into flames again. "THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR!! THAT INVISIBLE MAN'S GONNA BE THE DIVISIBLE MAN WHEN I'M DONE WITH HIM!! I'M GONNA KICK HIS ASS INTO FRACTIONS!! HANG ON, NAMI!! I'M COMING!!"

"Oh, and I forgot to tell you," Usopp piped up, "but the invisible guy? Yeah, he spied on Nami when she was taking a bath."

I turned and looked at Usopp. "He did _what?"_

Sanji ended up yelling over my question. "WHAT THE HELL'D YOU SAY?!! HE WILL PAY!!!!!"

And Sanji exploded. Fire danced all across the decking, lighting up the area like it was the middle of the day.

"Can Sanji use fire like I can without a Devil Fruit?" I looked up at Zoro, who was watching Sanji with something of an irritated expression.

"First time I've seen it," the swordsman stated. He looked over at Usopp. "Why'd you have to add more fuel to the fire? He not seem angry enough to you?"

"THAT LOATHSOME INVISIBLE PERVERT IS GONNA DIE!!!" Sanji roared...right before another explosion happened on the deck.

"Sanji just exploded!" Chopper yelped from where he was hiding behind Robin.

Sanji kept right on roaring angrily, not seeming to have noticed.

Usopp growled. "I keep feeling like it's all my fault since that creep took Nami right in front of my eyes. It's only right that I go with Sanji." He paused, then panicked. "And also I'll do anything to stay away from that Moriah!"

I sighed and shook my head at Usopp's antics. "I'm not planning on fighting him either...not yet, at least. Maybe I can do something to thin out their numbers so that he won't have so many zombies to draw on for his army." I patted the bag of salt that was still sitting in my jeans pocket.

"I'm worried about the skeleton fighting on his own," Franky commented. "He needs back-up." He dropped his sunglasses over his eyes. "If Straw Hat beats Moriah before the skeleton's zombie wins, then everything's cool. But otherwise, I gotta work overtime to help Brook and hold onto my own damn shadow."

"I'll give you some extra back-up with that one, Franky," Zoro said. He had shifted his white katanna to his shoulder while we had been talking, and he tapped it against one shoulder like he was itching to get moving. A sinister-looking grin crossed his face. "I want to see if this legendary samurai he's fighting lives up to his reputation or not."

It took me a moment to remember what it was that Usopp and Chopper had been through. "I think that'd be an interesting fight to see. Maybe we'll take different routes and I'll follow you guys up there."

"If we're picking," Robin spoke up, "Nami's my top priority. That's the battle I'd like to lend my hands to. And once we get her back, we can all take down Moriah as a team."

"Better than fighting him alone," I remarked.

"You say it like it's no big deal," Chopper spoke up, "but did you forget who he is? He's one of the Seven Warlords!"

"Yeah, but so what?" Luffy responded. "Crocodile was one, too."

"That's my point exactly! Crocodile got this close to killing you!" Chopper held one of his hooves up. "I'm begging you to be careful! Seriously, I already warned you -- your zombie is terrifying! Terrifying!"

"Yeah, I got it, I got it." Luffy sounded like he wasn't worried one bit about this. To be honest, I didn't really feel too nervous, either. I mean...let's see, if Luffy's zombie is about as big as six giants...mess with the numbers a bit, and I think he'd be about the size of Dialga when I was the size of a Vulpix -- the six-tailed little fox I ended up getting turned into. Considering I fought then with only one Pokemon at my side...hopefully, Moriah's monster won't be all that bad.

Hopefully.

"I'M COMING TO RESCUE YOU, NAMI!!" Sanji roared. Why hadn't he gone shooting off yet?

"Heads up, you guys! I had enough to make one sack for each of you."

I instinctively reached up and caught the bag that was thrown at me, then looked at what it was that Usopp had tossed.

"What's in it?"

"A little concoction of mine," the sniper explained. "I call 'em Zombie Death Salt Balls."

"Ah." An expression of understanding came across Zoro's face. "So this is what you were whipping up earlier."

"I was wondering," I commented.

"Good thinking, Usopp." Zoro gave a slight nod of approval.

"All right. If we're gonna do this thing, there is one point that I cannot stress enough." Usopp pointed a finger at all of us. "There may be a lot of thick forests on this island to hide in, but there's no guarantee that we can avoid the sunlight at all times. We're all only alive right now because it's the middle of the night. In other words, sunrise is our literal deadline. We _have_ to get your shadows back by then! So don't forget it -- it's imperative that we're out of here by dawn!"

Luffy started cracking his knuckles. "I know exactly what you mean. There's nothing worse than going a whole night on an empty stomach. We're going to make you regret that you even thought about taking our food. You hear that, Moriah?!"

I sighed and shook my head at Luffy while I summoned my phoenix staff. I was feeling much better than I had before, considering that I was still feeding off Sanji's fire a bit. To be honest, I doubt that the cook was noticing.

"We'll make him give back twice the amount he took from us!" Luffy declared. "And before dawn!"

Well, he _did_ take all my Berries -- and I'm going to definitely want those back!

"YEAH!!" we all shouted.

"H-hey, wait!" Usopp recovered from the yell quickly. "Were you not listening to me?! I was saying we've gotta get your shadows back by sunrise or else--"

"Let's go," Zoro interrupted Usopp.

"Right!" Luffy started running along the dock towards the island's entrance. The rest of us instantly followed after him.

"Aw, screw it!" Usopp started running after us; I glanced back to see the sniper with an annoyed look at having his warnings completely overlooked.

Luffy and Sanji were the first ones to reach the ladder and scramble up it as though it was nothing. The rest of us followed after them and reached the stairs in little time.

"All right, so who's going which way?" Zoro demanded, eyeing the mansion ahead of us.

"Huh?" I blinked a couple times before I realized what he was referring to. "Oh, hey -- there's a lower pathway! I didn't notice that before."

"Which way to Moriah?!" Luffy snarled.

"You wanna go up," I replied, pointing at the stairs that we had come down from.

"Y-yeah," Usopp piped up in agreement. "That's where we last saw the invisible guy and Nami, too."

Sanji let out a roar and started running up the stairs, staying neck and neck with Luffy. Robin and Chopper started running after them.

"I, uh...I guess I'll see you guys later?" Usopp shrugged sheepishly before following after the archeologist and the doctor.

"So, are you coming with us?" Franky raised an eyebrow at me.

"For a while, at least." I shrugged. "I mean, I want to take out as many zombies as I can, and I don't want to face Moriah right away...I was kinda thinking of working my way through the mansion and maybe out into the forest to take out as many as possible."

"If that works for you." Zoro turned to the pathway at our level and started running. "Come on -- we've gotta find that skeleton."

"Sounds good to me." Franky took off after the swordsman, with me right on his heels.

It didn't take too long before we caught sight of a large group of zombies mulling around. I grinned and gripped my staff.

"Perfect! Time to take back more shadows!" My staff started sparking with electricity as I poured on the speed to get ahead of Franky. "Take this! Shock Wave!"

"What the--" Zoro moved to the side as the electricity slammed into the zombies ahead of us. He looked at me with an expression of surprise. "Since when could you--"

"I've been experimenting since we got onto the island." I offered a grin before grabbing one of my bags of salt and dashing for the zombies I had frozen, dropping bits of the stuff down their open mouths before slashing at a few more with my Electric attack.

"Hey -- save some for me! Weapons Left!" Franky fired on a few of the zombies while Zoro took out his swords.

"You two shouldn't be the only ones to have all the fun." Zoro smirked slyly before he started going after the zombies himself.

It wasn't too long before we were running after the zombies, who were screaming their heads off. "They're too strong! We can't take them! Run!"

Zoro let out a roar and ran through what was left, slashing left and right with his two swords. I decided to take advantage of the situation and threw salt into the mouths of the zombies that were left lying on the pathway before running after the swordsman and the cyborg.

"I can't believe that these slow, stupid pieces of crap managed to capture me," Zoro growled. "The more I think about it, the more it pisses me off!"

"Use that anger to your advantage, but don't let it crowd your mind!" I suggested as I moved to catch up with Franky and Zoro. I stayed behind them, though, because I didn't want to end up getting chopped by accident.

"I'm sure you developed a pretty close bond to me after I saved ya," Franky commented, moving to catch up with Zoro. "You're free ta call me 'bro', if ya want."

"I'd rather get caught again!" Zoro barked back.

"I hope you don't mean that," I muttered.

And that's when the sky started falling -- or, rather, the walkway above us.

"Wh-what the--" I let out a yelp and moved out of the way of most of the stuff as Zoro and Franky started doing what they could to deflect most of the debris -- as well as the zombies that were falling towards us. "What just happened?!"

"My guess is Luffy did something," Zoro replied, looking up. A frown came across his face a moment later. "Hey...looks like...."

I heard a familiar scream, and jumped aside right before Usopp and Sanji came crashing down onto the walkway. I flinched when they hit the stone.

"Ow, that had to hurt!" I moved over to the two of them. "Are you guys okay?"

No answer, except for the occasional twitching of their legs.

"They're legs are twitching, so I'm sure they're fine," Zoro stated off-handedly, glancing back at me. "You've got nothing to worry about. What I'm curious about is this thing."

"What thing?" I glanced over my shoulder and frowned. My eyes widened a moment later as my eyebrows shot up out of surprise. "Some kind of wall? Who put that there?"

"Well, whatever it is, it's blocking our path," Franky responded. "Sure is weird-looking, though."

Sanji's legs collapsed, and he started to get to his feet, coughing. "Damnit. What the hell was that?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," I responded, glancing over at him. At least Zoro was right about Sanji and Usopp being all right.

"I...." Usopp started to get to his feet, as well. "I think it was--"

I heard a strange noise, then looked over at Zoro. He had stuck his sword into the red wall...but I didn't see any cracks of any kind. In fact...it almost looked like the wall was giving a bit under his sword.

Zoro frowned. "Well, it's not made of rock." He pulled his sword out while Franky aimed his cannon.

"Weapons Left!"

I flinched back at bit at the resounding light flash, then blinked a couple times when I saw the results.

"What the...." Franky frowned. "I didn't even put a dent in it!"

Usopp let out a cry of fear and shock. "What the hell are you guys doing?!"

I looked over at the sniper, frowning. "They're just trying to take down the wall."

"It's just a wall, Usopp," Zoro stated, turning back to look at us. "A pink, fleshy wall."

"That's not a wall, you moron! That thing's Luffy's zombie!"

I did a double-take. "What?! Luffy's zombie?!" I turned and looked up...before a disgusted, shocked expression came over my face. "You mean that horned, shark-toothed thing is what Moriah pushed Luffy's shadow into?!"

"It's huge!" Zoro exclaimed, clearly shocked.

"L-luffy's...." Sanji sounded at a lost for words.

"Zombie?!" Sanji and Franky exclaimed together.


	15. Stupid Ghost Girl!

** Maria's POV **

I shook my head a couple times, trying to make sure that what I was seeing was what I was really seeing. When the sight of the giant, monstrous thing didn't go away, I desperately wished that I had a large Pokemon to go after that thing -- preferably a Legendary.

Unfortunately, I couldn't summon actual creatures like I could seemingly summon objects, so that left us alone.

Plus, the zombie monster had started moving a little, so I didn't think that I'd be able to get one of my friends in time.

Usopp dove behind some of the rubble while Franky reacted in a bit of a panic.

"This thing is too freakin' huge!" Franky yelped.

"It could easily rival the size of some Legendary Pokemon," I commented in agreement, gritting my teeth in order to keep my nervousness down a little. "And those things can get to be pretty gigantic, depending on the species."

"And look at those horns!" Franky was still panicking. "Did it climb up from hell or something?! I've never seen anything like this! Is that _really_ Luffy's zombie?!"

I nodded a bit at the horn comment, wondering where Moria had managed to find a zombie that was as fearsome and large as this. "Usopp and Chopper said this was it...." I swallowed. "I was kinda hoping we weren't going to run into it this early."

"Holy crap," Zoro commented.

"Luffy...." Sanji sounded a little lost for words.

"It's all over!" Usopp wailed from behind us. "He's gonna grind us up and make meat pies out of us!"

That's when the zombie started shifting, and one eye opened and looked over in our direction. Those of us who weren't hiding either gripped our weapons or prepared to go in feet first.

I started spinning my staff, electricity slowly coating the length of it while Luffy's zombie started to reach forwards. To my surprise, it wasn't aiming to crush us, though -- it reached out and grabbed a large boulder of debris that was behind us.

"H-huh?!" I glanced back, then looked up sharply as the zombie lifted the rock into the air. I expelled a little electricity from the staff if that would do anything to keep the falling pieces of stone from hitting any one of us on the head, but that didn't seem to work all that well, so I resorted to just holding one arm above my head.

Usopp was screaming his lungs out. "What is he gonna do?!"

The zombie lifted the piece of rock high above his head, and I started to get ready to fire off the most powerful Shock Wave that I could. It looked like the thing was going to drop the stone right on top of us!

The zombie started to lower the rock...only to...put it on top of his own head?

"Huh?!" I asked along with Franky, Zoro, and Sanji.

The zombie made a strange noise, then spoke. "There we go...."

I couldn't help but shudder while the others looked on in confusion. Once again, I heard the garbled voice of a crewmate -- and not just any crewmate, but my captain.

"Okay!" The zombie raised a fist in the air. "Now I look like the real thing!"

"The real what?" I frowned, unnerved.

The zombie didn't seem to notice us, because it just turned and started walking off, the ground shaking with every step. "Can't be King of the Pirates without an awesome hat. Man, that sure was scary when that building fell down...."

I did _not_ know how to react to that.

Usopp stumbled over, moving to watch as the zombie walked away into the distance. "What just happened? Did that thing not even notice us?"

"It's hard to believe, but it really does act like Luffy, doesn't it?" Zoro asked.

I shuddered. "And its voice sounds like a garbled version of our captain's, too."

"Something huge with that kind of fighting power is going to give us hell," the swordsman continued.

I found that I didn't really want to think about that all that much.

Usopp collapsed to his knees as Franky shook his head for a moment before moving towards the break in the stone pathway, a frown on the shipwright's face. "Come on, let's just get out of here. You guys don't need your shadows, right?"

"Like hell we don't!" Zoro barked back.

"Even if we did give up on my shadow -- which is stupid by the way -- we'd still have to rescue Nami, so get your ass in gear!" Sanji added.

I moved over to Usopp and got into a crouch so that I could look the sniper in the eye. "Besides, Luffy promised that he'd beat Moria and get everyone's shadows back to their original owners, and I doubt that Luffy's about to back out of that."

Usopp made a whimpering noise, not looking at me, but he shifted from his kneeling position to a sitting one instead; I rose to my full height at the same time.

"The problem right now is that we're all stuck down here," Sanji commented, folding his arms across his chest. "The stairs were the only sure-fire way to get where we were going and now they're completely destroyed. And even if we changed our route and take this passage, we're still screwed since the bridge got taken out, too. In other words, we can't get to the mansion with the mast either way."

I nodded a bit at that. "And I don't think that going through the forest again would be all _that_ good of an option at this point, right? I mean, that would take even longer, and that's time that we need right now."

Sanji gave me a slight smile and nodded in agreement.

"And that's way too far for us to jump," Zoro remarked.

"We had a short cut laid out for us," Usopp whimpered. "Now we're going to have to go some scary way full of zombies...."

"Just give me thirty seconds!" Franky suddenly called out. "I got this!"

"Huh?" I turned my head as the other three glanced over to see what it was that Franky was doing. "Got wha--"

I cut myself off when I saw what exactly it was that Franky had managed to do.

"I'm not too happy with how this railing turned out," Franky commented, patting the white stone railing that was on the wooden bridge that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"You built a bridge?!" Usopp, Zoro, Sanji, and I all exclaimed at once.

Franky stepped away from the railing, smirking a bit. "There was wood and scraps everywhere. If I couldn't throw together a bridge or two, I'd be a damn disgrace!"

"If you say so," Usopp responded. "For a makeshift bridge, you sure put a lot of effort into the details!"

"No kidding," I responded, eyeing the railing. "It didn't have to be that ornate, did it?"

"Are you sayin' you want me to do a half-assed construction job?" Franky sounded a bit annoyed.

"Nah," Sanji responded. "Don't hear me complaining. Anyway, thanks a lot. Let's go!"

The cook started to run across the bridge, the rest of us following after him towards the large, wooden doors on the other side. Franky and Zoro got ahead of us to open them, and then we ran into the mansion.

Almost immediately, the light started to dim. I promptly counteracted it by creating a couple Will O' Wisps and sent them a short distance ahead of us to light our way.

"That's pretty handy," Usopp commented, looking over at me. "Where'd you learn that trick?"

"Not too long after we got into the mansion," I responded. "The hallway was pretty dark, so I figured a couple Will O' Wisps would help. Besides, Sanji had been grabbed right before then, and I didn't want to be snuck up on in the dark."

"You are so smart, Maria-san!" Sanji exclaimed, spinning around a bit.

Zoro snorted. "Hell of a lot of good that did us in the long run. _I_ still got grabbed. Stupid zombies...."

"How was I supposed to know that they were stupid spider-things?" I retorted. When Zoro gave me a dark look, I explained quickly, "We ended up running into them later before we found Brook. They nearly got us, too, if it weren't for the fact that their webs don't take to fire very well."

If Zoro had a retort to offer for that, he wasn't given the opportunity to give one, because we suddenly broke through into a brightly lit room.

I let my Will O' Wisps dissipate as soon as we arrived, and I quickly scanned the room to see where exactly we were.

"What, does a princess live here?" Sanji asked, scanning the room with the rest of us.

"Looks that way," I commented, frowning at the ornate bed and what looked like pillows scattered all over the place. "The bright paint in this room feels kinda out of place in a mansion like this, though...." I gripped my staff tightly with both hands. "I don't like it."

"Don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this," Zoro muttered. He turned sharply, as though he had caught sight of something. "What the--"

"Horohorohorohoro!"

I jumped a little upon hearing the strange laugh, and I looked around again...only to see what appeared to be transparent shapes moving around the room. And there was a girl with pink hair sitting in what looked like a giant purple armchair of some kind.

"Jirachi and Deoxys, we've got those stupid ghosts in front of us," I growled a bit. The girl, though, I hadn't seen before. What was she doing in a room filled with these...Negative Ghosts? And why wasn't she being affected?

"I was going to have my zombies grab you at the stairs by the bridge, but I suppose that plan fell through," the girl commented. "Oars was just reborn, and he's already a nuisance." She turned to look sharply at us, and her voice's tone changed to one of annoyance. "My patience is running _very_ thin tonight."

"It's those ghosts again," Zoro muttered. "So it was her controlling them all this time? What the hell are those things, anyway?"

"They aren't like ghosts that I've encountered before," I remarked, frowning. A shudder ran through me at the memory of what happened when I had been hit last time. "It felt like Darkrai pulling a Nightmare technique or something when I got hit before...."

The pink-haired girl jumped to her feet, making that weird "horohoro" noise again. Was that supposed to be her laughter? "Oh, my, is that fear I sense in your voice? I wouldn't blame you after what happened last time."

Zoro and I both gritted our teeth. Franky and Sanji growled a bit while Usopp -- who was hiding behind Zoro -- let out a slight whimper.

How was it that she knew about what had happened to us?

My eyes ended up widening out of surprise when the girl's hands suddenly had little white balls pop out of them and float up to the ceiling...where they ended up turning into more of the ghosts that were already floating around the room.

"I create ghosts at my command with the power of the Hollow Hollow fruit," the girl explained, smirking. "You can think of them as a sort of extension of myself. They can empty your heart and crush your spirit." She laughed again. "This should be fun. For me, at least."

I growled a bit. "Well, isn't this just great."

"I can't believe this little cutie is the one making those annoying ghost creatures!" Sanji exclaimed, looking horrified.

"Save your comments for another time!" Usopp yelped. "If we even get hit by even one of those things, then it's all over for us!"

"He's right!" Franky yelped. "We've gotta run!"

"I don't wanna lose my dignity again," Zoro agreed.

"And I don't want another horrid vision," I groused. I got into a slight crouch and got ready to start moving.

"Negative Hollow!" our opponent exclaimed, sending five ghosts in our direction.

"Retreat!" Franky, Usopp, and Sanji turned tail and started to run back the way they had come.

I decided to start running around the room instead so that I could get deeper into the mansion -- so that I could keep with my original plan of taking out the zombies there.

Unfortunately, didn't get to move all that far.

A ghost came flying right at me, and before I could do anything to dodge, it went flying straight through my stomach.

Everything went cold and dark.

** Memory Break **

_ I wake up sharply on what feels like an operation table, tubes coming in and out of me like I'm some kind of experiment. _

_ The word doesn't sit well with me. I am  _ not _someone's play thing to be cut apart and put back together!_

_ I tear everything off me and get off the table and start running. Shadowy figures move in front of me to try and stop me, but I blast them before they can so much as grab me. Muted voices call to me, but I don't know who they are or what it is that they're saying, so I keep going. _

_ I break out of the building, and in an instant, more shadows are starting to surround me. I fight them all off and keep moving, trying to find a way out of the place I'd suddenly found myself it. _

_ It's not too long before I'm surrounded. _

_ I start building up power, preparing to take them all on at once, when a voice suddenly cuts through the din like one of Zoro's swords. _

"W------ J-------! Stop! You're among friends!"

_ The words -- even the cut-off ones -- seem to jar me, and I shake my head to clear it out. Shadows start to gain color, but my mind seems jumbled. Where was I before this? Where am I now? _

_ I get a very nasty feeling in my gut as even more emotions and memories start to pour into me at high speed...mostly revolving around torture and PAIN at the back of my neck and in my chest, with figures that don't look human at all doing all the poking and prodding...both verbally and physically. _

"You are never going to escape, you measly little creature," _I can hear them hissing._ "We will find out what makes you tick -- and when we're done, you can join the rest of your friends in our ranks. With you under our command for the rest of eternity, nothing will stop us."

_ I collapse to my knees at the memories, losing control of myself as I start weeping. Strong arms wrap around me and lift me up. _

"It's okay," _a kind voice whispers._ "You're safe."

_ I bury my head in the figure's chest and cry until darkness overtakes me again. _

** Memory Break **

I came back to my senses with a gasp for air, breathing heavily. By the Chaos Emeralds, what was _that?_ It felt like I had a memory within a memory or something! And who were those...nicer voices I heard?

Why did I respond when that one called out to me?

"That's my crew, you know," stated a familiar, strangely determined voice. "I won't let you hurt them!"

I blinked a couple times, then frowned as I tried to get my broken wits together in order to figure out who had just spoken. I noticed that there was someone in front of me, and I looked up....

There was a guy with a green slingshot -- 

Hang on a second! Usopp was standing after those Negative Hollow things?!

"Tricky punk!" The pink-haired Devil Fruit user was mad, now -- as were the zombies that weren't lying on the floor. "You just acted like you had been hit so that you could surprise me!"

I looked back and forth between the two of them, still not entirely focused on what was going on, considering the memory I had just been given.

"But don't worry." The girl raised a hand and smiled slyly. "I won't miss a second time!"

Usopp gritted his teeth, but he didn't move from where he was standing as something exploded from the girl's hand.

"Negative Hollow!"

_ Negative-- _ My thoughts managed to focus just enough that I knew what was going to happen. "Usopp!"

Before I could tell him to move, the nasty ghost went straight through Usopp, causing him to let out a grunt and stumble around, looking like he was about to fall over.

I started to feel the despair coming on again -- it was coming on so fast...maybe I had a piece of the ghost stuck in me? The main problem now, though, was that we had probably lost our last fighting chance against--

Wait...Usopp wasn't falling over.

"What?!" The Ghost-Girl sounded just as shocked as I was starting to feel.

Usopp gripped his slingshot-staff tightly. "My name...is Captain Usopp."

I smiled uncertainly. How was it that Usopp was still standing? No matter the case, he did look kinda cool in that outfit, now -- almost like he really _was_ a superhero or something.

"I don't get it!" Ghost-Girl started to sound panicky. "Why is it that my attacks don't do anything to you?! I know I didn't miss that time! What is this -- what kind of power have you got?"

"Power has nothing to do with it," Usopp responded shortly. "I just naturally have....A NEGATIVE PERSONALITY!!!"

Usopp's yell brought me a little bit more back to my senses -- especially considering how Ghost-Girl reacted. It almost looked like her eyes were popping out of her head!

...to be honest, it looked kinda funny.

I let out a weak chuckle. It felt difficult to do that, but the fog was lifting, at least. "Way...to go...Usopp."

It was a little difficult to speak, too. It felt as though my throat was hoarse.

The sniper glanced over in my direction and gave a slight smirk before he returned to glaring at Ghost-Girl.

"He's even more negative than the Negative Hollows!" exclaimed a zombie from behind Ghost-Girl.

"He's a real piece of work!" another added.

"No! Mistress Perona!" shouted a third.

Perona, huh? Well...at least Ghost-Girl has a name.

Perona stumbled back before falling onto her rear. I guess she was in shock.

"Perona!!" all the zombies shouted at once.

I watched her, frowning a little when I saw that the girl was crying. Did Usopp's response really throw her off that much?

"Huh?" Usopp looked confused.

Perona started to get to her feet. "Don't give up...."

I frowned. "What?" My voice was still hoarse, so it came out pretty quietly.

And then the zombies yelled it. "Don't give up!"

Perona yelled those three words even louder. "Don't give up!"

They started chanting.

I let out a groan and buried my face in the green carpet. Was this really their best idea to take out Usopp?

"DON'T PITY ME!!" Usopp roared at the lot of them.

I smiled slightly at Usopp's response. "Good ol' Usopp...."

I started to hear groans from the others, and I figured that I may as well try to get to my feet. My staff appeared in my right hand easily, and I used it as a support in order to get to my feet while Usopp started yelling at us.

"Come on, you guys! It's time to snap out of it! You gotta go rescue Nami and get your shadows back before it's too late!"

I felt renewed conviction run through me as I remember what my original plan had been: get into the mansion and cause as much trouble as possible by freeing as many zombies as I could. A grin started to slowly spread across my face as Zoro, Franky, and Sanji started to get to their feet.

"No matter how strong you are, you don't stand a chance against her!" Usopp continued. "All you can do is run. But don't worry. I'll take care of her for you!"

"I can't believe it," Franky commented.

"Usopp...actually looks cool for once," Sanji continued.

"Is his heart really that empty?" Zoro asked, disbelieving.

"Seems like it," I responded, feeling the strength coming back to my legs. I hefted my staff up into the air, glad that I wouldn't have to use it as a walking stick. And I knew what exactly I wanted to do first thing, too.

Perona made a squealing noise that sounded like it was supposed to be a growl. "You little turd!"

Usopp paused for a moment, then turned sheepishly to look back at us. "Oh, and, uh...please defeat all the zombies before you go. Valiant though I may be, I must conserve my energy for--"

"All right, see you later!" Sanji gave a wave before running off, Franky and Zoro starting to move with him.

"No, wait!" Usopp tried to get them to stop, then turned his pleading expression to me.

"I'll help, but then I'm going to head deeper into the mansion to take on some zombies myself," I stated, staff cracking with energy. I promptly threw all of it at the zombies blocking the other door. "This'll paralyze them for a while, so use that to your advantage!"

Before Usopp could say anything else, I ran out of the room and after Zoro, Sanji, and Franky, but they were already long gone.

"So, Usopp's gonna handle Ghost-Girl," I commented to myself. "Sanji's gonna go after Nami...Zoro and Franky are gonna help Brook...so I guess I'll just run around and start taking out zombies myself until I meet up with somebody again. Should be easy enough."

I started to feel like I had been made new. Now that I was away from Perona, I could feel conviction for my plan starting to form and burn away the drop in spirit that I had felt before.

"Now, time to take out some zombies!"


	16. Attack of the Doppleganger

** Maria's POV **

Okay, so hunting down zombies on my own and taking them out on my own was a little bit harder than I had originally thought. Maybe it was because this part of the mansion didn't really seem to have any zombies in it? I kinda was still close to Perona's room, I guess, which meant that Usopp was the one keeping all of the zombies in the area busy.

And Perona.

I decided to get out of the room with the columns as quickly as I could and started moving a little more quickly. I had a little bit of a hard time finding a doorway, though, so I ended up running around in circles for a bit before finding another door...which ended up leading me outside again.

"Huh?" I looked around for a bit, frowning. "Does this lead directly out to the forest? No, wait -- I can see the walls, and it looks like there's a tower on the other side...maybe it's a garden of some kind or something."

I spotted what looked like a door of some kind on the other side of the giant, forest-like garden, and I decided to go down the stairs and start moving through the forest. Maybe there was a chance that I could find some zombies here to take out?

I ran along the main path, eyeing the trees and the weird decorations that were scattered around the area. It almost looked like someone had taken the furniture from the inside of someone's house and just scattered the pieces all over the place. It looked really weird and left me feeling a little bit unnerved.

A pretty good distance ahead, I heard a familiar voice calling out and saw what looked like a flash of fire over the top of the trees as something jumped over the edge of the wall that surrounded this part of the mansion. Was that supposed to be Sanji?

That means that Zoro and Franky are not too far ahead of me!

I looked up at the part of the mansion that was ahead of me -- and, by extension, Franky and Zoro. It looked like a pretty ominous place....

Hang on...didn't Brook say something about his samurai opponent being up there? I decided to see if I could run up in that direction -- I mean, the others were going that way, and I _was_ kinda curious about what this zombie guy looked like.

So I followed the straight path, occasionally glancing around to see if there were any zombies that might end up popping out at any moment.

After about half a minute, I had nearly reached the other side of the garden -- I could see the stairs leading up to a slightly open doorway -- but there were still no zombies in sight.

"What happened to the zombies that were supposed to be around here?" I asked aloud, frowning.

"They're all Perona's, so of course they're going to be helping their mistress."

I felt a chill go down my spine when I heard the familiar voice, and I turned slowly in order to see if my fear was actually warranted.

I instantly got into a battle stance and held my staff in front of me in both hands. I gritted my teeth. "Airam! What are you doing here?!"

The purple-clothed clone of me gave a dry smirk, looking at me with an expression that clearly said that she had been expecting me to react that way. "Waiting for you." She cracked her knuckles almost casually, smirking that knowing, almost evil smirk of hers. "I want to see if you're ready to stand up to me yet."

Considering what had happened the last time the two of us had run into each other...and what was going on around us...I didn't think that I was ready for this confrontation.

Still...there really wasn't much I could do about that at this point. So I started to grit my teeth and tightened my grip on my staff before I started to pour my energy into it. I vaguely remembered something about fire not working on her very well, so maybe I could use one of my other techniques.

Electricity started to cover my staff, and I charged at Airam before swinging at her, letting out a snarl.

I almost managed to get her in the shoulder...before she suddenly disappeared from my sight. Seconds later, something slammed into my back.

I let out a squawking noise as I was slammed into a nearby tree.

"Zihihihihihihi!" I heard her laughing behind me as I started to get uneasily to my feet. "You're still weak, but I have to admit, that was an interesting new technique you used."

I let out a grunt, turning to look at Airam. I started to gather my energy again, and I raised the staff as though I was ready for another pass at my purple-clothed double.

Airam didn't seem to be tense at all for some reason. In fact, it almost looked like she wasn't expecting me to move at all.

I started to raise my staff for my planned attack...and then the entire garden started shaking. Hard.

I ended up stumbling as the ground shook under my feet, not really giving me all that much of a good footing on the ground. I ended up leaning against the tree I had been knocked into, holding onto one of the branches.

"What on the Grand Line?!" I demanded reflexively.

Airam laughed her creepy laugh again, sending a shudder down my spine. "You certainly are a creative, stubborn little girl, aren't you?"

I gritted my teeth as the ground continued to shake. "Wh-why you.... What are you doing on this Halloween-fest of an island, anyway?! Are you following me or something?!"

Airam instantly gained a serious expression, her purple eyes hardening and almost seeming to turn black. "What I'm doing here is none of your business. But if you want to know...." Her expression became sickly sweet. "Let's see if you can beat it out of me."

A growl slipped out of my teeth, and I started twirling my staff again as electricity sparked off the entire length of it. Shock Wave never missed as a Pokemon attack...maybe the same thing held for me here? I definitely hoped so.

"Grrragh!" I swung my staff in an arc, sending a wide wave of electricity at Airam. I promptly started charging up another one and let it loose at a different angle.

Airam took a step back and started to move to the side, but some of the electricity still managed to hit her.

I could see electricity passing over her arms and smirked at a successful shot. If it froze up the muscles of the zombies, it should do the same for her, giving me time to whack her a few times with my staff!

I dashed forward and started to swing my staff around for the start of Airam's beat-down. I slammed the phoenix staff right into her side and sent her skidding a short distance.

I frowned. Shouldn't she have gone flying from that?

"You're getting better, I see," Airam commented, hands in her pockets. "But its still not good enough."

"Tch." My frown deepened, and I started to charge up even more energy so that I could hit her with another electric attack. There was a chance that I could still manage to do some actual damage.

"You really want to go through with that?" Airam appeared to be mildly amused. "There's no way that you're going to be able to do anything against me. You're still too weak."

I don't really know what came over me after that, really. It was almost like something snapped.

"Shut UP! You haven't dealt with the nightmares that I have!"

I got a sudden burst of energy, and I channeled it instinctively before charging at Airam.

Things kinda became a blur after that.

** Change in POV -- 3rd **

Airam raised an eyebrow before an almost sadistic grin crossed her face. "ZihihihihihiI thought that you might have it in you, Maria. Were you holding back for a reason?"

Maria didn't answer, instead letting out a soft growling noise that didn't sound like anything coherent. Then she suddenly jumped forward, bringing a hand back for a punch.

Airam started to move calmly out of the way, but Maria seemed to somehow be able to predict her movements, because her other fist came flying forward and slammed into Airam's chest, causing her to lose her breath for a moment.

Airam was used to that, though, and she was able to recover quickly. Shifting into a stance that was similar to Maria's, her eyes narrowed as her focus sharpened.

The first thing that she noticed was that Maria's eyes were no longer blue -- they were a pure, blinding white. And, considering that her face seemed to be trapped in some kind of grimace, well...it was a wonder that Maria hadn't started trying to bite Airam yet.

Airam wasn't to let that idea slip out of her head yet, though.

Maria let out a snarl and lunged for Airam again, clearly not thinking about what it was she was doing.

Airam reacted instantly by bringing up her flames, purple tongues of fire starting to lick at her arms before being fired at Maria. They hit her dead on, but that didn't stop her; Maria just kept right on going, slamming into Airam with an angered roar.

"Tch!" Airam gritted her teeth. While she had expected Maria to do something, she definitely hadn't been expecting her to get to go berserk.

It was an interesting development, to say the least.

Maria snarled again, red and orange flames starting to flicker on her arms. She made slashing motions with her arms, sending waves flying at Airam before she dashed forward herself, flying through the flames before slamming into Airam and sending her flying into a nearby tree.

Airam grunted. "All right. You've had more than enough fun, _Maria._ " Airam lunged forward herself and slammed her clenched hands into Maria's head, getting a call of pain before Maria collapsed to the ground.

"You're still not strong enough," Airam snarled. "You're relying on a berserker state in order to get an edge...I didn't think you could even access it in this form, considering just how weak you are."

Maria didn't respond, simply lying there, unconscious.

"You may have beaten me, but it wasn't honorable, much less wise. You'll have to figure out what I'm doing here yourself...before my future partner-in-arms arrives." Airam gave a sadistic smile. "Zihihihihihi! I'd like to see you manage to destroy Oars without knowing anything about the future!"

With that, Airam disappeared into the shadows, smiling sadistically. The smile disappeared as soon as she was out of sight, however.

_ Even after what had happened before, I had thought that she wouldn't be able to enter a state such as that. What was done to her that caused such a show of feral anger? _ ****

** Memory Break **

_ Something was dropped on my chest, and I felt an energy surge so powerful that my eyes snapped open and I sat up as stiff as a rod. It almost felt like my heart was gonna burst out of my ribcage! _

_ It took me a moment to figure out where I was. It looked like a place that was in the heart of a jungle or something -- ruins scattered all over the clearing. Robin would probably have a field day with all this stuff. My vision seemed to be...different, somehow, too, from other memories in this place. _

_ My mind pointed out that I actually had glasses before this...was that why my vision was different? _

_ "What  _ is _this?" asked the silver-haired boy to my left. He sounded like he had just run a marathon. "I haven't felt so...."_

_ "Energized?" I prompted. I got a nod in response. _

_ Something moved out of the corner of my eye, and I turned sharply in order to see who was coming. I relaxed slightly when I saw that the figure was a dark-skinned man with white hair, but I still felt like I was ready to get into a fight at any moment. _

_ "Kaz?" I asked. "What's going on?" _

_ The man smiled lightly. "You have spoken with Yobmok, whether you remember it or not." _

_ I felt a chill go down my back as my thoughts quickly translated the weird-sounding word. _ Yobmok...Mother Crystal...Heart of Atlantis....

_ "How does this explain why I feel like I'm ready to take on a horde of Dream Eaters?" retorted the redhead sitting to my right. _

_ "That is Yobmok's work. She provides us with the energy we need, and she has deemed you worthy of being... _ adopted _, I believe is the term in your language."_

_ My eyes widened.  _ "Adopted?"

_ "Are you saying that we're now a part of your city?" the silver-haired teen asked --  _ Riku, _my mind corrected._

_ Kaz gave a nod. "Yes." A concerned expression crossed his face. "However, even that may not last for long, as Yobmok and Kidagakash have been taken from us." _

_ I frowned, gritting my teeth as the other memory I'd recovered came to mind. "Rourke." I started to get to my feet, but my legs wouldn't hold up my weight, and I collapsed onto my rear, scowling. "He got away." _

_ "He won't for long." Riku quickly shifted his own weight and got to his feet, using a nearby pillar to support him. "We have to get them back, before this world falls deeper into darkness." _

** Memory Break -- Maria's POV **

My eyes snapped open, and I quickly scrambled to my feet when I remembered that I had been fighting Airam a moment ago.

As I looked around, though, trying to find where my double was, I froze when I saw that she was gone. Even worse, it felt like there was a dull pounding at the back of my head.

I gritted my teeth, trying to remember what had happened before I had been oh-so-obviously knocked over the head. Unfortunately, the last thing I remembered...was yelling at Airam about me having had more nightmares than her. Beyond that...it was a pretty fast blur, honestly.

What exactly was it that happened?

I shook the thought out of my head. I had some zombies to take out -- I couldn't just lie around and let things happen right now.

Zoro and Franky had probably managed to catch up with Brook by now...maybe Sanji had managed to find Nami...I had no idea how to find any of them, but I figured that it might be a good idea if I took a different route of action.

Where were the most zombies at this point in time? Probably down in the forest, considering how much havoc we were making around here.

I made a dash for the stairs and into the mansion, looking for stairs leading down so that I could break out at the main entrance -- or, at least, out of the mansion itself.

I ended up in a long corridor of sorts, lined with zombies on either side who clearly looked like they had been killed. What did that mean, exactly? Who else had been down in this direction?

I blinked a couple times, then caught sight of what looked like cut marks going across some of them. A...a swordsman?

I doubted that Franky would have led Zoro down this way -- which meant that this was probably Brook's work.

"Brook certainly knows how to take these guys out," I commented. "Let's see...maybe I can follow his carnage backwards to the exit or something."

And so, I started to do just that, stepping around the slightly-rotted bodies and wrinkling my nose at the stench that was starting to come off them. Seriously, these people had no respect for the dead, considering that they were just bringing back zombies and putting them together like jigsaw puzzles with all the wrong pieces.

It made me sick seeing them like that. I hoped that Luffy was gonna give Moria a piece of his mind.

I kept following the carnage, and it didn't take me too long before I had managed to find myself back in the room with that giant bear-rug zombie -- and the other ones that we had clobbered when we had first arrived.

You can imagine my surprise when I found that some of them were still alive.

"Hey, look! It's that walking fire hazard again!" one of the picture zombies pointed accusingly at me, a panicked expression came over his face. "We'd better get her before she burns this whole place to the ground!"

"I can do more than just burn," I responded, smirking as my staff started to charge up with electricity. "Shock Wave!"

_ Wham! _

The electricity slammed into the picture zombies along one wall; I then threw salt in their mouths and ran for the door, zapping and purifying the zombies that thought to try and get in my way.

"Ha!" I turned away from the open doorway and gave a wide grin at the zombies that remained. "Anybody else wanna go back from whence they came? I'm more than willing to do that for you, ya know."

The zombies hesitated, exchanging glances.

The bear rug let out a loud roar as it reared up from the floor. "She's just a stupid girl who throws fire around! Don't let her make you rethink our orders from our master!"

"You weren't watching, were you? I don't throw _just_ fire. Shock Wave!"

The electric energy slammed into the white bear rug, causing it to freeze in its tracks.

The bear snarled and tried to move towards me, but it didn't do any good. I grabbed one of Usopp's salt balls and took a moment to aim at the thing's slightly open mouth before throwing it up there with about as much force as I dared.

I decided against sticking around, and instead started running out towards the forest. There were probably a lot of zombies out there, since the forest covered a good deal of the island.

And I guess I could start with that graveyard that we had passed through earlier.

I grinned. This was gonna be fun.


	17. We've Got Shadows A-Plenty!

** Maria's POV **

As soon as I hit the graveyard, I slowed down from a jog to a casual walk, ready to start to channel my energy at a moment's notice.

Before I could even move, though -- or before the zombies even came out of their hiding places -- I heard the sound of an explosion behind me. I turned sharply in order to see what exactly it was that had just happened.

I blinked in alarm when I saw what looked like the top of the tower collapsing.

"Wh-what the--?!" My eyes widened when I started seeing flashes showing up on top of the tower, and what faintly sounded like metal clashing with metal reached my ears. "Who's fighting up there?"

I backtracked a bit so that I could get a better feel for what was going on. But I couldn't see what was going on from where I was standing -- either in the graveyard, or right in front of the mansion. Hearing the shouts and seeing the flashes of metal, though, it made me wonder what kind of fight was going on up there.

I jumped back in surprise when a bright purple slash suddenly went across the triangular roof. A line of dust came up seconds later...and then I caught sight of what looked like an ant running up one side of the roof as it started to tilt to one side.

"One Sword Style, Flying Dragon!"

An apparition of what looked like a dragon suddenly formed in the sky, seeming to be almost glowing with a strange, blue energy.

My eyes widened. "Zoro!"

"Three Verse Humming...Arrow Notch Slash!" roared an unfamiliar voice. It sounded a little like Brook's...except that it was an octave lower than the skeletons.

"Blaze!" Zoro yelled.

I could barely see the two figures moving past each other in the air. I frowned, squinting. Was one of them...Brook's zombie, then?

I didn't really have time to wonder anything else, because I caught sight of the top of the roof falling down in my direction. I quickly scrambled back as it collided with the walkway, sending debris flying all over the place.

I heard what sounded like a second collision above me, and I looked up in order to see what had happened. My eyes widened moments later when I saw that there was a cloud of dust rising from a second of the roof...and there was a figure standing up there that almost appeared to be covered in blue fire!

I wondered whether he was Zoro or Brook's zombie.

I heard what sounded like a moaning noise, and I think I saw something black in the flames for a second. Moments later, there came the happy, laughing voice of a skeleton, but his words were a bit garbled because of the distance between us.

I frowned a bit before realization crossed my face as I figured out what had just happened.

"So...Zoro somehow managed to set the zombie on fire? Wow! There must be more to a swordsman than I had originally thought!"

"IT'S BACK! FINALLY, AFTER FIVE LONG YEARS, MY SHADOW IT BACK!!"

That definitely came through as clear as day. I grinned and burst out laughing before calling up to them. "Congrats, Brook!"

There was a pause for a moment, and then I heard Franky's voice. "Huh? Maria? Is that you down there?"

"Yeah! I kinda got separated from you guys when we were getting away from that stupid Ghost-Girl! I was planning on heading down this way, anyway, so I hope you don't mind if I didn't follow you guys up there for that fight just now! It almost looked like a light show from down here!"

Franky burst out laughing. "Yeah! And can you believe that the entire thing only lasted a few minutes? It was absolutely incredible! Zoro's an awesome swordsman!"

"You've got that right!" Brook added. "Yohohohoho!"

"So, what are you guys gonna do now?" I asked.

"We're gonna see if we can meet up with the others!" Franky called back. "Maybe Luffy's nearly beaten Moriah to a pulp by now!"

I grinned. "Maybe! But if he hasn't yet, I figured that I'd head into the forest for a bit and take out as many of the zombies that are hiding in there as possible! If I can take them out, then Moriah won't be able to call them in for reinforcements!"

"Sounds like a plan! Guess we'll be seeing you later then, huh?"

"Yup!" I gave a salute, then turned and started for the graveyard, twirling my staff as I started to charge up energy. The zombies hadn't started to come up yet, but I had a pretty good idea as to how I could get them to come up.

"All right! Icy Terrain!"

The attack instantly came to life as I slammed the butt of my staff into the dirt; ice started to cover the ground and spread out from where I was standing and started to leak into the open holes in the dirt.

"Yiii! That's cold!" A number of zombies suddenly exploded from the ground.

"Hello, ninnies! Shock Wave!"

The zombies I managed to hit started to stumble drunkenly, sparks flying from one place to another. I lunged forward, the ice doing little against my footing, and I took pot shots at their open, gasping mouths before starting to repeat the process.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are, you stupid Heartless zombie monsters!" I called in a sing-song tone. "Give back your Hearts and rest in peace, you dead freaks of nature!"

I paused, then, blinking in confusion. "Wait...Hearts? I thought they were shadows...." I shrugged. "Aw, well. I'll figure it out later."

"Hey! Somebody get that girl's staff away from her! It's gotta be the source of all those attacks she's using!"

"Yeah! But how are we gonna be able to get that close? She could freeze us--"

"--or electrocute us--"

"--or burn us!"

My eyes narrowed when I heard the zombies talking like that, and I set off another Icy Terrain. "There's no way that you're going to be able to take this from me -- and I'm not gonna let ya!"

I fired off another Shock Wave as I let out a roar, causing a good number of zombies to scream in fear and either run (or attempt to) or hide back in their holes, crying for me to go away and leave them be.

Yeah, sure. Like that was gonna happen. Like before, I started throwing salt again into open mouths and dashed around the graveyard, getting zombies to come flying out of their holes with more batches of Icy Terrain.

Scaring off and purifying the zombies was an easy matter, but it did take a while; by the time I was done, I'd left more of an ice rink instead of a graveyard.

I let out a sigh of relief at a job well done. "There we go. That certainly took a while." I turned my attention to the forest beyond. "All right. Let's see what kinds of zombies are hiding out here besides unicorns, tree-men, and that stupid Cerberus monster."

I started into the trees, but the ground suddenly started to shake, and I froze and turned in order to see what exactly it was that was going on.

I jumped when I saw a large, bandaged, horned monster burst through one of the walls of the mansion, sending up clouds of dust everywhere. It took me a moment to recognize it.

"Shoot! It's Luffy's zombie!" I started backing up. "And it doesn't look so friendly anymore...I think I'd better head out of its sight before it tries to come at me!"

I turned sharply and started running into the forest...and I started hearing the zombies nearby, yelling in panicked voices about how some "Special Zombie" was going on a rampage or something. Were they talking about Luffy's zombie?

"SHOW YOURSELVES!! COME OUT, STRAW HATS! YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME!!"

"Okay, he sounds even worse than Zoro's zombie!" I yelped. "Garbled voice and everything!" I shook my head, trying to clear out my panic. "I just hope that it doesn't end up doing anything to hurt the others -- and that Moriah doesn't end up doing anything that involves summoning all his zombies...." I gulped.

I reached a clearing in the woods and paused to catch my breath and have a look around, trying to see if there might be any more zombies nearby that I could take out.

Weirdly enough, there weren't any in sight.

"Oh, great." I gritted my teeth out of annoyance. "Stupid zombies must be hiding deeper in the forest." I shifted my grip on my staff and moved it in front of me. "Or they could just be hiding and scared of me because of all the purifying I've been doing. I don't know which one it is, but I think I'll find out sooner or later. Preferably sooner."

I started moving forward, but then a figure suddenly stepped into my path.

"H-hang on! Wait a sec!" A young man looking -- and smelling -- like he was in bad need of a bath held up a hand. "You're one of the pirates that's wrecking havoc on the island, right?"

I paused, eyeing the figure in front of me for a moment. Red hair...dirty green-and-black outfit.... It didn't look like he was one of the other zombies, so that meant he was one of the victims still living on the island.

"Yeah, I'm one of the Straw Hats," I responded carefully. "What's it to you?"

The man let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. I was hoping that I might be able to run into one of you. Come on -- we've got an idea that we wanted to try, and we hoped that one of you guys might be able to give us a hand."

"An idea?" I think one of my ears twitched when I heard that. "Really? What exactly do you have in mind?"

"I'll explain on the way back to where we've been living for the past few years." The young man motioned for me to follow him, and he started into the trees. I followed after him, curious and cautious at the same time.

"So, what's your name?" I asked.

"I'm Pan. And what do you go by?"

"Maria. Although, the Marines seem to have decided to add 'Fire Staff' to that." I shrugged. "It works, though."

"Fire Staff?" Pan gave me an interested expression, his gaze moving to the staff that I had next to me. "I saw you fighting those zombies earlier -- you weren't using fire at all."

"Well, considering that electricity and ice were a bit more effective against the zombies for my purposes, I didn't need to rely on my primary element all that much. I guess I'm just different that way."

"I guess so." Pan smirked.

"So...what was this idea that you mentioned? And why do you need one of us in order to do it?"

"It's mainly got to do with our levels of strength. You see, when the zombies around here started spitting out shadows, we found a way that we could use some of them, but the problem is that we can only use so many shadows at a time. We figured that you pirates might be able to take on more than one or two of them."

"Take on? What do you mean?"

Pan rubbed the back of his head. "Well, we figured out that we can take in shadows for a short length of time as a power boost, but we can only handle one or two for a short time. We thought that you might be able to absorb more than we could handle."

I considered that. It was something that might be able to give any one of us an edge, but....

"An interesting idea, but I think you're talking to the wrong pirate." I shook my head and looked at Pan, who had gained something of a disappointed expression. "Not to say that I'm not willing to try, but there are stronger people on the crew who would be able to absorb more shadows than me. Problem is, they're all in the mansion at the moment, and it looks like Luffy's zombie is going to be causing a lot of trouble. Getting any one of them away is going to be a problem."

"So...you'd be willing to absorb a couple shadows?" Pan asked, hopeful.

"If I have to, yeah. How much further to where you've been living?"

"Not too far. Just a couple minutes, and we should be in the deepest part of the forest."

I nodded a bit, then frowned up at the increasing number of trees that were starting to appear. "It's getting a bit hard to see...."

"Well, we have to live in the dark, because otherwise, we'd end up getting vaporized."

"I know; Brook told us about that when we first ran into him. I think that the zombies call him the 'Humming Swordsman'."

Pan's eyes widened in surprise. "The Humming Swordsman? Really? You know him?"

"We were the ones who ended up leading him back here, so you can thank us for causing more chaos than we normally would be able to do." I snickered.

We soon broke through the trees and entered what appeared to be a clearing with buildings that looked like they had been built out of wood scraps. There was a decently-sized group of people standing around, looking generally nervous.

"Hey, guys!" Pan raised an arm. "I've found one of the Straw Hats!"

The call got the attention of everyone in the group, and they all dashed over towards us as we walked into the clearing.

"Hi," I greeted. "I'm Fire Staff Maria."

"Welcome to the Rolling Pirates secret hideout!" came the response. The two men who had spoken quickly moved in front of the group.

"We're the Risky Brothers!" the two exclaimed in unison.

"Risky?" I raised an eyebrow. "Risky about what?"

Before either one of them could answer that question, a loud explosion suddenly came from somewhere in the forest, accompanied by a familiar, angry yell.

I turned sharply when I heard the yell. "Hey, that was Luffy!"

"Your captain?" Pan guessed.

"Yeah. What exactly is he doing out here, though? I thought he was gonna take care of Moriah back in the mansion!"

Before anyone could say anything else, the ground started to shake; I planted my staff in the ground in order to make sure to keep my balance while the shadowless people around me stumbled for a moment before catching their footing.

"What's happening?!" someone asked in alarm.

"The island's started shaking again -- like it did before!" someone else called out.

"Hey, guys -- look up!"

I heard Pan's panicked voice, and I glanced up.

"The fog's starting to lift!" Pan warned. "It looks like it's almost dawn, too!"

"What?" My eyes widened. "This isn't good! I don't know if we've managed to rescue my crewmates' and my captain's shadow or not!"

"And we don't have our shadows back, either," a voice spoke up. "Moriah hasn't been beaten yet!"

"Hey, guys!" Two figures emerged from the forest. "We saw Straw Hat! We can tell you where he is and what direction he's going in so we can do _that!"_

The Risky Brothers exchanged glances before grinning. "We'll go after him!" With that, they dashed off into the forest at high speed.

This left me standing next to Pan, looking around the group with a slightly nervous expression.

"So, you're _all_ pirates?" I guessed.

The entire group nodded.

"A good number of us were traveling along the Grand Line, but some of us actually came from the New World," Pan explained.

I turned and looked at him in surprise. "The New World? Really? We're planning on going there!"

"You're pretty ambitious pirates then."

I turned my head when I head a woman's voice, and I saw a woman with long pink hair and some kind of yellow jumpsuit underneath a ragged red coat.

"Thanks, I guess." I looked at her curiously. "And you are?"

There came a yell from nearby, and I turned my head and caught sight of Luffy lying on the ground nearby.

"Oh, goodness, I tripped him with my little foot," remarked one of the Risky Brothers as they came out from behind the trees. "Tee hee."

Luffy scrambled to his feet and glared at the two of them. "What the hell is with you guys?! I'm kinda in a hurry here, okay? What do you want with me?!"

The crowd of shadowless pirates started to move over in Luffy's direction; I trailed after them cautiously.

The Risky Brother with a head full of brown hair rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah...sorry to bother you, but this is really important -- I promise."

"Yeah," the other Brother agreed. "We'll only take a second of your time. We've been looking all over the place for you. You're our only hope."

"Huh?" Luffy blinked a couple times out of confusion.

"They call the two of us the Risky Brothers," the first continued. "The gang here is the Rolling Pirates, and our captain is Lola the Proposer."

"We want you to get back to the mansion pronto so you can beat up Gekko Moriah," the second spoke up. "Right pal?"

The second Brother put a hand on Luffy's shoulder; he eyed it suspiciously before looking back up at the brothers. "Yeah, that's right. Now could you tell me what you want with me?"

"Listen -- you're in luck, cause we just happen to know the secret to taking out Moriah," the second Risky Brother continued.

"We can give you the power to do it, too," the first added. "And all you gotta do is kick his ass for us."

"Do they always like to beat around the bush like this?" I asked, looking over at Pan. The pirate just sighed and shook his head, running fingers through his straggly red hair and looking like he had seen things like this before.

"A secret that'll give me power?" Luffy repeated, frowning.

"Yup," the two brothers responded together. The brown-haired one put a hand on Luffy's other shoulder, and my captain frowned at it.

"Seriously, who the hell are you guys?!" Luffy demanded.

"They're just trying to help, Luffy," I responded, moving through the crowd. He turned and gave me an expression of surprise.

"Maria? What are you doing out here?"

"I was taking out zombies when these guys found me and told me what they were planning," I explained.

"And she seems to think that you would be the right man for the job," added the woman in the ragged red coat as she stepped forward.

"Allow us to introduce you to the captain of the Rolling Pirates, Lola the Proposer!" the brown-haired Risky Brother announced, motioning to the pink-haired woman.

"Current proposal count: 4443," the other brother added.

"Oh my, aren't you handsome," Lola commented with a straight face, looking at Luffy. "Will you marry me?"

"Oi! You're way older than him!" I exclaimed.

"No thanks," Luffy said, also with a straight face.

"Rejected!" the Risky Brothers exclaimed together. "That makes it 4444! Better luck next time!"

I facepalmed and shook my head; Pan chuckled sympathetically next to me.

"Anyway, Moriah took all the Rolling Pirates' shadows," the second Risky brother said, "so we're all stuck here wandering around in this forest 'till someone gets them back!"

"Yeah, well he took my shadow, too!" Luffy pointed down at the ground beneath him, where his shadow would have been. "That's why I'm in a hurry!"

"I won't take no for an answer, Straw Hat Luffy." Lola folded her arms across her chest. "You're a hero. In all of Thriller Bark history, no one has been able to reek as much havoc as you."

The other pirates started throwing streamers and cheering. I just wondered if they were taking Brook's havoc into account for all of this.

"You walloped the Mysterious Three, returned some of the stolen shadows, and caused tons of property damage!" one of the Risky Brothers explained.

"We've had nothing but misery in this crappy place till you showed up and started kicking ass!" the brown-haired Brother added. "On the downside, it's kinda your fault that you brought Oars back to life. That maybe wasn't so great."

Luffy looked confused at what the pirates were saying.

"We have a whole network of victims, so we know everything that's going on here," the brown-haired Brother continued.

"We've been stuck here without our shadows for three years," the other Brother added. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life on this stupid island! If you guys beat Moriah for us, we can get out of here and finally see the sun again after all this time."

"But we've got another problem right now! Moria's making things even tougher than usual. Know where the bastard's at? Camped out inside Oars' stomach!"

"No way!" Luffy gained a shocked expression. "Did Oars _eat_ Moriah?"

"If this 'Oars' guy did, then wouldn't Moriah be partially digested by now?" I remarked, frowning. I gave Pan a questioning look.

"Oars is the name of the zombie giant that your captain's shadow is inhabiting," the redhead explained.

Oh. Well then.

"It's complicated," the brown-haired Risky Brother stated. "He's in there piloting him like a ship."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Piloting him...?"

"Anyway, the point is, you're gonna have to take out that giant with your shadow -- otherwise, you won't be able to lay a finger on Moriah."

"But we figure that you'd want to beat him anyway, since he's giving most of your crew a pounding out in the courtyard," the second Brother stated.

"WHAT?!" Luffy and I exclaimed at once.

"Damnit, I've gotta help them before it's too late!" Luffy turned and started to run down the path.

"Hey! What about that power boost?!" I yelled after him.

Luffy came skidding to a halt. "Oh, right!" He turned around and looked at us. "So, what was that secret thing you guys were talking about?"

Lola grinned widely. "You are gonna _love_ this!" She looked at the Risky Brothers. "All right, boys! Bring out the shadow!"

"Roger! Stay out of the way! Here comes the shadow!"

The Risky Brothers ran off, then came back, carrying a shadow in their hands.

"You might want to hold him down for this." Lola turned and looked at me. "We don't know how he's gonna react when we force it into him."

"Wait -- what?" Luffy looked at us in confusion.

"I'll see what I can do." I moved behind Luffy and grabbed him by the shoulders, ready to keep him still if need be.

Luffy looked at me with a confused frown before he turned to look at the Risky Brothers. "Hmm? You can grab 'em?"

"Once they're separated, yes," one of the Risky Brothers confirmed. "When you feed the zombies a little bit of salt and they come flying out, you can just nab 'em out of the air with your bare hands, no problem."

The Risky Brothers ran over to Luffy and raised the shadow high over their heads. "HEAVE HO!"

And they stuck the shadow right into Luffy.

Luffy started trying to shake himself out of my grip; other Rolling Pirates came over and grabbed Luffy's arms in order to keep him from trying to pull the shadow out.

"H-hey! What are you doing -- are you nuts?!" Luffy barked.

"Just stay still!" came the response from one of the pirates.

Luffy threw his head back, nearly hitting me in the head; I ended up bending back so that he wouldn't whack into me.

"Stop it! Get it outta me!" Luffy gritted his teeth. "I feel like I'm gonna die--" His words effectively turned into gagging noises as his muscles spasmed all across his body.

I winced. Is this what it looks like when shadows get stuck in people that are already alive? If that's the case, I don't want any part of it.

"All right -- it's in." The Risky Brothers stepped back from Luffy as he went limp; I practically jumped back when Luffy slipped out of my hands and fell to the ground.

"Are you feeling okay?" I looked down at my captain with a concerned expression.

Luffy didn't answer. That made me more than a little worried.

"How is it?" Lola asked, moving forward. "You didn't lose consciousness, did you?"

Luffy grunted and shook his head. "I'm fine."

He sounded tired when he spoke. Luffy moved to stand on his own, so I stepped away and moved around to look at the face of my captain. Other than the thick black rings around his eyes, he looked fine.

"All right, I guess that's a start," Lola commented. "Can you use a sword?"

"Nope."

"Which is why we have Zoro," I remarked. Luffy looked over at me and nodded in agreement, a strangely serious expression on his face.

"Hey -- throw one over here!"

At Lola's call, a sword still in its sheath was suddenly thrown through the air in Luffy's direction. I scrambled out of the way so that I wouldn't get hit.

Luffy's head turned sharply, and he suddenly reached out, grabbed sword, and _cut up the nearest tree like it was nothing._

My jaw dropped while the other pirates clapped and Luffy sheathed the sword. "Luffy, how did you _do_ that?"

"That's what I wanna know!" Luffy stared at the sword in shock and surprise.

"It's quite simple," Lola responded. "The shadow we just stuck into you used to belong to a powerful swordsman in the Navy."

Luffy's eyes widened in realization. "Just like what Moriah did with my shadow and that zombie!"

"Yeah," one of the Risky Brothers spoke up. "But since you're still alive, it adds the shadow's fighting power to your own."

"The point is that, if you don't pass out, we can stuff as many shadows in you as we got!" the brown-haired Risky Brother exclaimed.

"Ever since we figured out Moriah's powers, we've been waiting for the chance to turn them against him!" Lola declared. "With a little boost, you'll be unstoppable!"

"We've still got a whole bunch of shadows left, too. As long as you're tough enough to withstand them, we can give you as many as you want, and your power will grow with each one!"

"Okay..." Luffy frowned. "But why do you have so many shadows in the first place?"

"The idea was to purify a bunch of zombies and find our own shadows, not collect them," the brown-haired Risky Brother explained. "But even if we didn't know who they belonged to, it didn't seem right to leave 'em with the zombies. So, we thought 'what the hell? Might as well take them back with us'."

"They could have returned to their proper owners...." I muttered quietly. "That's what Brook lets them do."

"There's one more important thing you've gotta remember about this, though," the other Risky Brother spoke up. "As you know, putting a shadow in a corpse makes a zombie, but if your body still has a soul, the shadow won't stick around. You'll only be powered up for about ten minutes. After that, all the shadows fly out and go back to their original owners."

"Ten minutes...that can either be very long or no time at all," I commented.

"That's right." The brown-haired Risky Brother grinned then stepped aside and motioned to something behind him. "Just ten minutes, sink or swim. We'll give you every shadow we've nabbed, so you should be pretty powerful when we're done."

I turned my head to see what the Risky Brothers were motioning to, and I froze when I saw more pirates running towards us with a large basket that had shadows sticking out of it like a large bouquet of crazy flowers.

"Whoa! That's a lot!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Shadows or not, the fog's clearing up," Lola warned. "We have about twenty minutes before the sun rises and roasts all of us anyway."

I decided against speaking up and saying that I still had my shadow, since they could probably see mine on the ground already. But Sanji and Zoro...oi, that wasn't gonna be fun for them.

"Our lives are in your hands," Lola continued, clapping her hands on Luffy's shoulders. "Steel your mind, Straw Hat. When we tried this trick before, we could only handle two or three shadows ourselves. But you should be able to do twenty or thirty, no problem."

I got an uneasy look on my face, and slowly backed away as a couple pirates came up and grabbed Luffy's arms, keeping him from moving too far.

"Go for it, boys!" Lola roared.

And that's when the shadows started to get stuffed into Luffy at a fast rate.

"H-hey! I didn't agree to this! At least slow down!"

Luffy's yells echoed through the forest, and I clapped my hands over my ears in order to keep my hearing intact.

Luffy had better survive this, because if he doesn't...then all hope is lost.

** Time Break **

"I...I don't believe it. I didn't even think that something like this was even possible. I've never seen anyone with so much willpower before."

I stared at Luffy, nodding mutely in agreement with Lola's amazement.

"Now I know he can do it. He can beat Moriah!"

"He took all one hundred shadows!" the brown-haired Risky Brother exclaimed.

"Unbelievable!" the other agreed. "I sure am glad he's fighting for our side."

Luffy was panting heavily, gritting his teeth and looking a little more dangerous than usual...considering that his entire form had changed.

"A-are you feeling okay, Luffy?" I asked hesitantly. I had seen transformations because of items before, but I don't think that I've ever seen one that turned anyone into what my captain looked like now.

"You are still Straw Hat Luffy, right?" asked one of the Risky Brothers.

"Oh, yeah." Luffy gave a short, almost dark-sounding laugh. "I'm still me. I'm getting stronger and stronger. I can feel it!"

I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and I turned my head and watched as a group of pirates carried a large sword over to Luffy, who picked it up in one enlarged hand and put it on his back, a strap looping over one shoulder and across his chest in order to keep it from slipping off.

"He seems kinda different, y'know?" asked the brown-haired Risky Brother. "I mean, it's not my imagination, is it? Cause I'm pretty sure he used to be smaller."

"I've seen transformations to increase a person's strength before, but this one takes the cake," I commented. "Increased size, strength...I think there's a sight change in his personality, too."

"It's beautiful," Lola stated. "I feel like I want to propose to him all over again!"

I groaned. "Don't. Please don't."

"They all want to fight," Luffy growled, still breathing heavily. "The shadows want to fight NOW!" He roared loudly, raising his arms above his head.

"Then let them go wild!" Lola responded. "Hurry, there's not much time!"

"Right!" I dashed over to Luffy, not feeling as nervous as the others about his appearance. "I'm getting the feeling that you'd be able to get there a lot faster than you could before. Do you think it would be all right if I rode on your back until we got there? I don't want to leave you guys waiting for me to get there."

"Fine with me," Luffy growled back.

I grabbed the end of the sheath and used that to pull me up; I climbed up that until I could reached Luffy's neck. I could barely wrap my arms around that, but I figured that I would be all right. Luffy didn't make a noise of complaint about me squeezing his neck too tightly, either, so I guess he was fine with me being there, too.

"Just ten minutes to show Moriah the meaning of terror!" Lola yelled as I had been getting into position. "It's time to escape from this hell. Get going, Nightmare Luffy!"

"They're in that direction!" I pointed off towards the stone building that looked like it had seen better days.

"Right."

I felt Luffy's muscles coil and bunch, and then we were practically flying forward as Luffy slammed through trees, roaring at the top of his lungs as he started towards the mansion.

I grinned a bit. Moriah was going to be in for the surprise of his life when Luffy showed up. My grin faded a moment later, though, when I realized that the others were right in the middle of a fight with him themselves.

I just hoped that they hadn't been hurt too badly...or worse, killed.


	18. Nightmare Luffy

** Maria's POV **

Luffy moved _really_ fast, considering his new, temporary form's large, muscled size. I wasn't necessarily scared of what he looked like now...I'd seen other things that were a little creepier, a little bigger, but seeing a transformation like that done to a human was a little unexpected in my book.

We reached the mansion in seconds, Luffy barreling through the outer wall and into the mansion itself.

"Oars is big," Luffy muttered. "I'm gonna have to go up."

I tightened my grip on his neck and shut my eyes as Luffy started to swing his arms before breaking the ceiling above us. Seconds later, he jumped up suddenly and reached the next level easily. Then we were moving forward again suddenly, and I think we went up again before Luffy finally came to a stop. By then, I could hear what sounded like battle, and...familiar screams of terror.

"Maria, you should get off now," Luffy growled.

"Huh?" I blinked, then nodded. "Yeah, sure." I removed my arms from around Luffy's blue neck and slid down his back, pausing on the sword for a moment before jumping off. "What are you--"

A blast of air, and Luffy was suddenly gone through a hole in the wall in front of us.

"Gum Gum...Stamp!"

I looked down on the battlefield below, and flinched back in shock when I saw Oars -- Luffy's zombie -- lowering its foot and slamming it into the ground. Repeatedly.

Nami started shrieking. "Usopp! Stop it, that's enough! You're killing him, you monster!"

I felt my blood run cold. "Usopp! No!"

"Stop! I SAID, THAT'S ENOUGH!!"

Then I heard a most _horrific_ noise from somewhere down on the battlefield. It _sounded_ like Luffy's laughter, but a bit more twisted -- and definitely more ear-piercing.

"Kiiishishishishishi! What's that now? Don't want us to stomp your friend? Then we'll stomp you instead!"

Oars suddenly jumped up into the air, raising a foot before slamming it into the ground elsewhere.

"No! Nam--"

I cut myself off in surprise when there came another blast of air, and Luffy's big, blue, muscular form appeared next to me. I looked up at him in surprise, then noticed that he was holding something in both of his large hands.

No...not some _thing._ Some _ones._

I think I almost ended up crying out of relief were it not for the fact that the creepy laugh came back again.

"Kiiishishishishishishi! Crush them! Crush them all! Stomp them till there's nothing left to stomp! And when you're done here, crush the ones we've already beaten! They're still breathing, you know, and you have a job to do! I won't be happy until they're as flat as a bunch of _pancakes!_ "

I winced. "Who exactly is _saying_ that?"

"Moriah," Luffy growled. Then he raised his voice -- but not by much. "Hey. Big guy."

Oars stopped pounding the ground. I, on the other hand, was preoccupied with Luffy's answer to my question. That twisted laughter and crazed order...that was Moriah's voice? I'd hate to see what the guy _looked_ like.

Luffy kept talking. "Might wanna stop that. What do you think you're stomping, anyway?"

Oars started to turn slowly in our direction.

"You lookin' for these two?" Luffy continued, glancing down for a moment at the two figures he was holding. "Cause you're not even close."

One of the figures started to stir, raising his head -- and, by extension, his long nose. In Luffy's other hand, one girl with orange hair started to raise her head.

"W-we're still alive?" Usopp asked in amazement. "W-wow! I don't know what's going on, but...thank you. That was a close call back--"

The sniper cut himself off as he looked up at his rescuer.

"What?" Nami looked up in alarm, as well.

"Who're you?" Oars demanded in his garbled Luffy-voice. "Get lost!"

"You don't recognize me?" Luffy responded. "The name's Monkey D. Luffy."

I could see the shock plain as day on Usopp's and Nami's faces.

"Luffy?!" the two exclaimed at once.

"That can't be!" Usopp immediately denied. "I-I mean, you're...blue!"

"Side-effect of the transformation," I responded, shrugging.

"T-transformation?" Nami looked over at me in confusion before frowning. "Is this your doing?"

"Not mine. I'll explain later, though."

"Be honest with me, Blue Guy," Usopp said. "Are you really Luffy?"

"Yeah, it's me," Luffy responded shortly. "Stop asking."

"That's not very convincing. But what happened to you?!"

"I'll handle the explanations." I looked up at Luffy. "Considering the time limit and all."

Luffy nodded shortly in agreement, then gently put Nami and Usopp down. The duo looked back and forth between me and Luffy as the big blue hulk of a rubber captain growled out a few short questions.

"So he already took out the rest of the crew?"

"Uh...yeah," Usopp responded, hesitant. "Fraid so. H-he teamed up with Moriah -- we hardly stood a chance!"

"Is that right." Luffy's statement didn't really sound like the question it was probably meant to be. He turned to face Oars. "Stand back."

"Wait -- you're gonna fight him _on your own?_ " Usopp sounded like he was starting to panic. "He doesn't just have your fighting ability -- he can stretch like you now, too! And I know you got big all of a sudden, but he's way bigger! I mean...you got a plan, right?"

"He can stretch like Luffy?" I repeated, looking at the sniper in surprise. "Since when did that happen?"

"Hey...what are those guys talking about?" Oars asked in confusion. Since he wasn't addressing us directly, I guess he was talking to Moriah...didn't those other pirates say he was sitting in the monster's stomach?

I glanced down the zombie's body and caught sight of an opening. Sure enough, it looked like there was someone sitting in there...and he had pale white skin and looked like he belonged in a freak show of some kind.

He had probably said _something,_ because Oars suddenly flung his arm back. "You got it! Gum Gum...."

The arm that had been flung back started to spin into tight coils, and I instantly felt uneasy.

"Here it comes!" Usopp yelped. He dove for cover behind a wall, followed closely by Nami and myself. Only Luffy remained out in the open, that serious, almost dark expression on his face.

"Rifle!"

The fist came flying towards Luffy...who stopped it with just one hand.

My jaw dropped while Usopp and Nami let out noises of surprise. "Okay, I knew that what they did gave you power, but I didn't think that it was going to be _that_ much!"

"There's only one Luffy," Luffy growled, "and that's me. You got a problem with that?"

He suddenly lunged forward and punched Oars in the jaw, sending the monster flying back like he had been hit by a monster of the exact same size. He literally went _up into the air_ and _over the walls of the mansion_ before disappearing out of sight!

Luffy landed on the wall on the other side of the open space below us while Usopp, Nami, and I marveled at his feat of strength.

Usopp was the only one who managed to get a word out, though. "Awesome...." He shook his head, then went back to staring at our captain. "I-I mean, that _is_ Luffy, right? We're sure about that?"

"Absolutely," I responded. "I wouldn't have been able to get here in time if it wasn't for him and what happened."

Nami and Usopp exchanged glances before looking at me.

"And what exactly happened?" Nami put her hands on her hips. "You mentioned something about a transformation."

"Yeah." I nodded.

Before I could explain what it was that had happened, Luffy suddenly jumped off the wall and went roaring off. I could barely catch sight of him dragging Oars to the ground by one of his horns over the stonework.

"I have...no idea what's going on here," Usopp admitted.

I opened my mouth to explain what was going on, but then a voice came up from below.

"He did it! He really did it!"

The three of us looked down, and I caught sight of figures starting to enter the courtyard, small and ant-like compared to the debris.

"He put Oars in his place! Now's our chance!"

"Let's find 'em!"

I blinked a couple times before I figured out who exactly it was who had spoken, and I grinned.

"Wait -- who are those guys?" Usopp asked in confusion.

"The Rolling Pirates!" I exclaimed. "They're the ones who helped Luffy transform!"

"They _what?"_ Nami repeated.

"Come on -- we've got to get down there so that we can explain what happened to Luffy -- they know more about it than I do, since I've only seen what they did once." I turned and started running, looking for stairs -- or maybe a large hole, considering that Luffy took the more unethical way in order to get up here.

"I know the way better than you do!" Usopp moved in front of me. "Come on -- I can work my way around these pillars pretty easily, considering that I chased Perona through here earlier."

"Did you beat her?" I asked eagerly.

"Yup!" Usopp grinned widely and laughed. "It was easy-peasy!"

"Perona?" Nami repeated in confusion.

"Oh, right -- you weren't there the last few times that we ran into her." I looked back at Nami. "Perona's a Ghost-Girl -- basically, she can create ghosts, or 'hollows' that can drain your spirit and lead you to a nasty depression."

"She's got some that can explode, too," Usopp added, shuddering.

"Really?" I looked at Usopp in surprise. "I guess that you couldn't be fully immune to her attacks, then."

Usopp chuckled weakly.

"Wait -- if her ghosts can leave people with depressions, why was it that Usopp was able to go against her and win?" Nami sounded confused.

I smirked before it went into a full-blown grin. "He's already negative about himself, so the Negative Hollows didn't affect him at all! I swear, the look on her face when she figured that out...." I burst out laughing. "Man! That was awesome!"

"It was, wasn't it?" Usopp agreed, grinning.

"Well, that's nothing," Nami snorted. "I took out a pervert who could turn himself invisible!"

" _You_ did?" I blinked a couple times. "Sanji said he was gonna do the rescuing -- he was practically burning up from his hatred for the guy!"

"Well, it turns out that the damsel had to save herself from her own distress," Nami responded dryly.

I grinned. "Not bad." ****

** Time Break **

It didn't take us too long to get back down to the courtyard, and the first thing that Nami and Usopp ended up doing was stopping Lola and the others from doing anything to move the rest of our crew from the battle site. To be honest, I was thinking that we should -- I mean, everyone (except for Brook) was bleeding at least somewhere, and I didn't want them to be in the line of fire.

And then came the question about Luffy's transformation, which was quickly and easily explained about by the Rolling Pirates.

"Yeah, I don't get it," Usopp said when the explanation was done.

"He's Nightmare...Luffy?" Nami looked uncertain as she said the name of Luffy's present form.

"So, just to be clear: you stole a hundred shadows from the zombies, then stuffed them in Luffy's body and that's what made him so _big?!"_ Usopp motioned off in the direction that Luffy had disappeared.

Lola and I nodded at the two of them.

"Yes, exactly right," Lola confirmed. "We gave him the strength he needed."

"To be honest, when we saw him transform, we got pretty freaked out ourselves," spoke up one of the Risky Brothers.

"Either way, that power of his is only going to last another two or three minutes," the other one added. "After that, all the shadows will go flying out of his body, and he'll go back to normal."

"I know we sprung this on him without asking or anything, but we just wanna be human again! We just wanna see the sun and leave this island -- no matter what it takes!"

"I know it's crazy, but it's the only way."

"Transformations like this can actually be pretty common if the need arises," I commented. "I have a few friends who could transform as a result of a gathering of...well, of magical items. Depending on whether they concentrated on positive emotions or negative emotions, the transformation could change -- but no one's used the negative emotion transformation on purpose."

"Magical items?" Nami raised an eyebrow, looking interested. "What kind of items?"

"The kind that don't take too well to being manhandled by people who would only want to sell them for the cash."

I wasn't about to mention the name of these items in Nami's presence -- oh, no. If she learned they were called Chaos _Emeralds,_ she'd be _begging_ me to help her go on a manhunt for them. Like that was gonna happen -- having Rouge go after them in her free time was more than enough.

"The morning is almost upon us, now," Lola spoke up in warning. "In the next few minutes, the fate of every victim on the island will be decided. Fight well, Nightmare Luffy. We're all counting on you."

I could hear Luffy roaring loudly somewhere on the island. It didn't sound like he was in pain, so at least that was good.

Seconds later, something came crashing through a building on one side of the courtyard we were standing in, and Oars came falling through it before crashing into the ground.

"Whoa!" I stepped back in surprise at the sudden destruction.

"He crashed through an entire building!" one of the Rolling Pirates exclaimed. "Let's go, before he crushes us, too!"

I brought out my staff, wondering if I should try zapping Oars. However, considering that he wasn't moving...I wondered if I should be even worried at this point.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing," Nami murmured.

Usopp did a short jig. "Yeah! You really did it, Luffy! Eat that, Oars!"

When the giant started to sit back up, Usopp stopped dancing.

"...Little punk!" Oars roared. "I'll squish you flat!" He started running forward, picking up speed. "Now, Gum Gum Bullet!"

The monster didn't get to far, because the next thing I saw was a flash of what almost looked like black blood splattering out. Something told me that Luffy had used the sword he happened to have on his back.

"Gum Gum Pistol!"

Oars was pushed backwards, but then he raised a leg.

"All right -- Gum Gum Axe!"

"Gum Gum Storm!" Luffy roared back.

Oars started moving backwards at a fast rate, and when the final hit came, Oars started to fall backwards into the courtyard....where some of us happened to be standing.

"Scatter!" I yelped. "Don't let yourselves get crushed by that stinky thing!"

Nami, Usopp and I scrambled away from Oars as fast as we could go, and we managed to miss getting hit by that falling hunk of deadweight as he collapsed into a wall, breaking it in the process.

"I guess we don't need salt after all," Usopp commented, amazed at what Luffy had done.

I frowned a bit at that, wondering if that was really true.

Nami started looking around. "Hey -- where is Luffy?"

We were answered by a blue comet falling from the sky and slamming into the ground nearby. We turned sharply in order to look at where Luffy had fallen, and say him start to get unsteadily to his feet...before he started to groan in pain.

"Time's up," I noted somewhat grimly as the shadows started to leak out of Luffy's body.

"The shadows...they're all leaving!" Nami exclaimed in surprise.

"Whoa...that looks bad," Usopp commented, worried. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"He said that he felt like he was gonna die when they stuck the first shadow in," I noted rather grimly in reply. "They offered to give me one so that I could give him some help, but I turned that down pretty quickly."

Nami and Usopp exchanged concerned glances at that.

Luffy started to shrink in size, losing the muscle mass and returning to his original skin tone before collapsing on the ground with a moan.

"Luffy!" Nami and I exclaimed at once. We ran towards the collapsed form of our captain.

"Hey, you're alive, right?" Usopp called as he ran after us.

"He'd better be, or else I'm gonna kill him," Nami growled in response.

"Don't you think that's a bit harsh?" I asked nervously.

"Not for her," Usopp quipped.

"What was that?" Nami turned, looking a little more dangerous than usual.

"N-nothing!" Usopp held up his hands and slingshot in defense. "I swear!"

I sighed and shook my head as we reached Luffy, and we started to look our captain over.

"Well, he doesn't look _too_ bad, considering he just had a hundred shadows in him," Usopp commented as we gathered around Luffy.

"You're incredible, Straw Hat!"

"He took out Oars!"

I lifted my head and looked at the shadowless pirates as they gathered around us, cheering praises for my crew's unconscious captain.

"Hey, Luffy!" Usopp moved behind Luffy's head and started shaking the rubbery pirate by the shoulders. "Now would be a pretty good time for you to get up, y'know?"

Luffy didn't move. He looked so exhausted, I kinda doubted that he could even hear us.

That thought got a pit of worry to start to form in my stomach, but I tried to push it off. I mean, Luffy had been through a lot already -- what with the shadows that he had been holding in a few moments ago and all.

"Luffy?" Nami's voice had taken on a concerned tone, but it wasn't as panicked as Usopp's.

"Guys, we probably shouldn't be doing anything to wake him up at this point," I commented. "I was there when they stuffed the shadows into him. He's probably going to be out of it for a long time."

"It's not my place to ask after we pushed him, but will he be okay?"

I looked up at the masked Risky Brother, blinking at the question. "I'm not sure. Chopper's the doctor of our crew, and he'd probably have a better idea of how Luffy is. Although...." My voice trailed off at I looked around the rubble-filled courtyard, as well as the unconscious bodies of my crewmates. "It looks like all of them are going to need medical attention -- including Chopper."

"I bet it's just that his body is absolutely exhausted," Lola commented from my right. "He did single-handedly wield the power of a hundred men."

"Anyway, we need to recover all of the shadows as quickly as possible!" called out the brown-haired Risky Brother.

"Right!" someone else called. "Let's hurry!"

"The eastern sky is starting to get dangerously bright!" another added in warning.

I looked up at the sky and frowned worriedly at the brighter blue shades that were starting to creep up over the top of the ruined mansion. "Yeah; dawn is definitely close."

"So, how do you get your shadows back?" Usopp asked, looking away from Luffy and looking at the shadowless pirates. "Four of our crew have lost theirs!"

"Let's see...Sanji, Zoro, Luffy...." I frowned. "Who else is missing their shadow? I know that Brook got his back, but he said he didn't want to be on the crew."

"Robin lost hers when we were fighting Moriah earlier." The sniper turned and looked at me. "He just tore it right off the ground and cut it off like it was made of paper!"

My eyes widened in surprise. "Robin lost her shadow? That's not good...."

"I'm sure this has been a trying ordeal for you," Lola said, looking down at us. "Really, I'd like Straw Hat to recover them for us."

"In his state?" I looked at Lola in surprise. "Even if he was conscious, who can say that he'd even be able to move?"

I thought back to what had happened back on Enies Lobby, when Luffy had to rely on Robin's ability to get rolled out of a tower before it exploded in cannon fire.

"Moriah reigns over the shadows in all the zombies," Lola explained. "Unless he personally say, 'Return to your original master', our shadows won't come back."

I looked at Lola in surprise. "Seriously? I thought that the guy just had to be defeated. Won't they come back to you automatically because of what just happened?"

Lola shook her head. "Not necessarily."

"Let's stop worrying and get down to business," said one of the Risky Brothers.

"Right!" agreed the other one. "We'll just have to wake Moriah up and force him to say that. What was the point in defeating him if we don't reclaim our shadows?"

Before anyone could say anything else, I heard what sounded like a large boulder colliding with the ground somewhere behind me. The sudden noise caused me to jump and sent shivers down my spine.

"What was that?" I asked, turning as more, similar noises started coming in quick succession. What I saw caused me and everyone else to freeze.

My phoenix-topped staff was in my hands in an instant as my entire body seemed to stiffen while the others let out gasps of alarm. "How is that monster still moving?!"

"O-Oars is back on his feet!" yelped a shadowless pirate nearby, pointing at the giant monster Luffy had previously knocked out.

"He shouldn't be able to move after taking a beating like that!" complained another pirate.

"This is horrible!" bemoaned the brown-haired Risky Brother. "We're screwed. The Straw Hat crew can't fight anymore!"

"And we used up our trump card, the shadows!" the masked Risky Brother continued. "We don't have enough strength left to level this monster!"

I gritted my teeth. As much as my gut hated to admit it, the Risky Brothers were right. Nami, Usopp, and I definitely couldn't take on something that big at this point, especially considering the fact that we were up all night -- _again_ \-- causing havoc all over the place.

Luffy's monster's head suddenly shifted so that he could look down at us. "That didn't hurt at all."

I let out a hiss through my teeth.

"Damn it!" Lola screamed.

"You can't defeat a zombie in a contest of strength," said the brown-haired Risky Brother.

"We've reached our limit," the other agreed moodily. "The sun is going to rise any minute now. We'll never be free from this life trapped in the darkness!"

I flinched. Something about that statement didn't bode well with me, and it went back to the weird-looking black monsters with the yellow eyes and the antennae. Something in my gut told me that those particular monsters were referred to as "Heartless"...although, I definitely wasn't going to attach that moniker to these guys.

"Let's just give up," a pirate moaned. "If we stay here, we're just gonna die."

"Let's hurry back to the forest," the brown-haired Risky Brother agreed. "Let's return...to that dark forest, where the sun never shines."

What?

I turned my head sharply to glare at them. "Are you saying that you're going to give up now, even after all the hard work that you put into taking Moriah out?"

There came a number of sharp gasps of surprise from the crowd, and a number of the pirates turned in order to see where the gasps were coming from. Curious, I moved so that I could see what exactly it was that they were staring at.

An expression of relief and concern flashed across my face almost instantly.

"Aren't you...?" one of the pirates sounded like he was at a loss for words.

"I don't know what happened to Luffy, but he dealt plenty of damage," said a certain swordsman. He had a black bandanna wrapped around his head -- like when he had been fighting Kaku -- and was holding two of his swords in such a way that it looked like he was more than willing to use them.

"H-hey!" the brown-haired Ricky Brother said. "You'll croak if you try to run around as you are now!"

"You can still stand after taking a blow from that massive giant?" Lola asked in amazement. "You're almost as immortal as the zombies!"

"You should have seen him at Enies Lobby," I remarked. "He looked a little more like a demon when he was fighting one of CP9's agents."

"Hey, where are the members of the Straw Hat crew that we moved over here?" someone called.

"B-beats me!" someone else replied. "How could they move when they're out cold?"

I moved over to Zoro. "So, what's the plan?"

"Get to a place where you know you can help the best." Zoro didn't so much as look in my direction, instead glaring up at Oars. "I don't want you to be underfoot when we finish him off."

I nodded. "Sure." I looked at my staff for a moment, considering the attacks that I knew.

None of them were exactly good for close-quarters fighting...even when I had been going up against large Legendary Pokemon like Dialga, I always hung back and spat Flamethrowers from a safe distance. It would probably make sense if I did the same thing here. I started for the edge of the courtyard, making my way quickly through the crowd as the shadowless pirates started to slowly notice that we weren't where we had been minutes ago.

I started climbing up a pile of rubble, hoping for some leverage, when I heard the shadowless pirates start exclaiming things about us ditching the scene.

I snorted. "Seriously? When some of the crew has their shadows missing?"

"What are you planning on doing, Maria?"

I looked up as soon as I reached the top of the pile of rubble, and I noticed that Nami was standing nearby on her own pile of rocks. "Oh, hey. Most of my attacks are pretty good long-range ones, so I figured it might be a good idea to keep my body out of the way while my attacks did all the work. You?"

"Same sort of idea." Nami twirled her Clima Tact. "Think your abilities can help me make a few rainclouds?"

"Maybe?" I looked over at Oars for a moment -- the monster-zombie still hadn't opted to move. "We'll have to see what works and what doesn't."

"Damn it! So that last attack didn't...take him out!"

I stiffened when I heard a familiar voice. "Is that--"

"Aw, man! Not you too, Straw Hat!" exclaimed the brown-haired Risky Brother.

"Just one more attack...Damn it! That really took a lot out of me."

"When did Luffy wake up?" I asked in surprise, looking over at Nami.

"Probably when we were all moving out to our positions," Nami responded. She looked surprised for only a moment; her expression was replaced by something of a knowing smirk. "I guess Luffy could sense that the fight wasn't over yet."

"Huh." I was impressed.

"Robin!" Luffy shouted.

"Yes, I'm here."

I jumped when I heard Robin's calm voice; it took me a moment to spot her in the crowd of shadowless pirates, miraculously on her feet after having her shadow cut off. I wonder how she managed to wake up, considering how hard it was to get Luffy and the other to up?

"She didn't hightail it!" a pirate exclaimed in surprise.

"I'm going to need to get up!" Luffy called out.

"Roger," Robin responded. "I'll provide the footing."

"If there is anything I could do for you..." came another familiar voice. I found myself looking around for the figure attached to it out of surprise.

There came a yell of alarm. "Even the skeleton is up and moving!"

"What?!" yelled another shadowless pirate. "How?!"

"Obviously, these guys haven't heard of Brook's Devil Fruit," I commented, smirking over at Nami. She snorted in amused agreement, smirking.

"Great! Brook, I have a favor to ask you," Luffy said.

"I figured as much," Nami commented from our perch, sounding amused. "Everyone has taken positions to offer support."

"And we're going to help as much as we can," I added, raising my staff above my head.

"What are those ladies doing way up there?!" exclaimed a shadowless pirate in surprise.

Nami and I looked at each other, and we exchanged another smirk.

"I-it never even occurred to these guys to run!" exclaimed the brown-haired Risky Brother in realization. "The moment Oars stood up...they started to prepare for a counterattack!"

I twirled my staff around, starting to charge up energy while Luffy started to climb to his feet unsteadily.

"Just you watch," Luffy said confidently when he fully got to his feet.

I gave a grin. "This zombie is _so_ going down!"


	19. Oars is Going Down!

**Maria's POV**

"I-I can't believe it!" exclaimed the masked Risky Brother. "These guys haven't given up at all!"

"Hey, you're in the way!" Zoro barked in response. "Clear the area!"

I held back a bark of laughter, watching while the shadowless pirates hightailed it away from the zombie as fast as their legs could carry them while yelling, "It would be our pleasure!"

"Pierna Fleur!" I heard Robin call. I caught sight of Brook picking up Luffy and running towards the tower behind Oars with our captain.

"Are you ready to make some thunderclouds?" Nami asked, getting my attention.

"Whenever you are," I responded. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just start building up as much heat as you can. Those Fire Spheres of yours should be more than enough." Nami started twirling her Clima Tact, releasing blue and red bubbles up into the sky. I took the initiative and started shooting Fire Spheres up alongside the red bubbles. It didn't take too long before a black cloud started forming high above the courtyard.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

I looked away from our work for a moment to see what Oars was talking about. I blinked a couple times out of confusion when I saw that Brook was climbing the tower, laughing loudly along the way.

That apparently was the distraction that we needed, because Nami suddenly made a motion with her Clima Tact before splitting it apart into three separate segments. I watched in surprise as the cloud we had been making suddenly turned into rings of sorts around Oars.

"What is this? Smoke? Clouds?" Oars asked in confusion.

"The weather forecast is rain!" Nami declared, holding one of the segments of her Clima Tact. "Cool Ball! Rain Tempo!"

Nami's final string of Cool Balls seemed to be exactly what the clouds needed, because they started to actually release water. Enough water to actually drench Oars in a downpour and make him look more like a fountain than anything else.

"Geez, I'm sopping wet!" Oars exclaimed as the clouds faded away.

"So, what's the plan now?" I asked, frowning slightly.

"According to what Chopper was able to find out earlier, Oars actually froze to death," Nami explained, looking over at me. "It would make sense that freezing him and causing even more damage that way would damage his body even more, right?"

A large explosion suddenly came from the base of the tower, catching my attention.

"What was that?" Oars asked in confusion.

I gave Nami a curious look.

"That is next phase of the plan," Nami said somewhat smugly.

"Crank it like mad!" I heard Franky's voice coming from somewhere near the base of the tower.

"I'm cranking it!" Usopp barked back.

"Cranking what?" I asked.

I ended up getting my answer when Franky called out again.

"Here it comes! It's the Super Cold Cannon connected to the extra-large freezer! Fire!"

My eyes widened in surprise when I saw a blast of what at first looked like steam came blasting out from the hole in the tower. It spread across the lower courtyard, bringing a wind of cold air with it.

"Cold air?" I blinked a couple times before I realized what exactly it was that was going on. "Oh! Now I get why we drenched him! That's going to make him extremely cold now!"

"Not just cold," Nami responded, grinning.

"I'm frozen!" Oars exclaimed.

I looked over at the zombie-monster, and my eyes widened when I saw that he was right. Well, half-right, since only Oars' lower body was frozen solid at the moment.

"I can't move!" Oars said as he tried to turn a little.

"Awesome! He's a sitting duck for our attacks now!" I started to move forward, hoping that I could fire off an attack that might be able to get Oars more damaged, but Nami grabbed my left arm and pulled me back.

"It's Luffy's monster," Nami said, shaking her head. "And Moriah's still sitting in that thing, too. It's only right that he's the one to finish his zombie off."

I considered the logic in that statement for a moment, frowning. Luffy had said that he wanted to be the one to defeat Moriah and get his shadow back....

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I gave a slight nod in agreement, and Nami let go of my arm.

"Now it's my turn!"

I lifted my head in surprise when I heard Sanji suddenly call out from somewhere above us.

"Damn it!" Oars complained, still trying to get out of his ice trap.

"Take this!" Sanji roared from somewhere. A moment later, a large chain suddenly came flying over and wrapped itself around Oars, going over a shoulder and across his chest and under his other arm.

"It worked!" I heard Chopper yell from somewhere.

Oars started pulling at the chain. "Darn rudder chain!"

"Rudder?" I repeated, raising my eyebrows. "They use _that_ to steer the island?"

"Makes sense, considering how big Thriller Bark is," Nami commented.

"You're amazing Sanji!" Chopper yelled from above.

"It was no problem!" Sanji called back. It sounded like he was a little closer to the ground, now, but he was probably still too far away to be seen.

"And now, it looks like Oars is even more restrained than with just the ice." A large grin crossed my face.

"Third Gear!" Luffy bellowed from somewhere high above us. I could barely make out his voice; how high up was he?

I got my answer a moment later when two large arms suddenly expanded -- practically out of nowhere.

"Whoa!" I stumbled back a step in surprise. "Did Luffy just inflate his arms?! I think I remember him saying something about doing that after our fight on Enies Lobby, but... both arms?!"

"He's really pushing himself now," Nami agreed, a worried tone in her voice

"Zoro, push in Oars' stomach!" Chopper called down suddenly.

"I'm on it!"

I looked down when I heard Zoro's voice, and I blinked a couple times when I saw him standing where he had been when he had first appeared. It looked like he was doing some kind of spinning thing with the two swords in his hands.

"Three Swords Style Secret Technique!" Zoro dashed forward. "Three Thousand Worlds!"

I saw a large well of blood suddenly spurt out from Oars' stomach, and I couldn't help but gag as I grabbed at my own. Zombie or not, that had to hurt. As it was, Oars bent forward, letting out a coughing noise that clearly said he was feeling the effects of the attack that had just hit him.

And then the rudder chain started to move. I blinked in surprise as I watched Oars be forced to stand upright with his head looking up.

"What in the world?" I blinked a couple times before frowning.

"Great job, Sanji!" Chopper called from above us. "Now Oars' spine is completely straight!"

"Straightening his spine?" I blinked a couple times. "What good is that going to do?"

"We'll probably have to ask Chopper about that later," Nami commented. "For now, though...." She promptly raised her voice. "Get him, Luffy!"

"Take him out!" I added quickly, raising my staff above my head again.

"Take this special Bazooka!" Luffy roared as he continued to rocket towards Oars.

"Oh?" Oars responded, holding onto the rudder chain with one hand. "I'll just send another Bazooka right back at you!" He let go of the chain and started to move his arms into position for one of Luffy's attacks. "Gum Gum...huh?"

"He better not use one of Luffy's attacks like he did earlier," I muttered, gripping my staff.

"It isn't moving! My right arm isn't moving, and it isn't stretching, either!"

I blinked a couple times when I heard Oars' exclamation. "Huh?"

"Chopper mentioned something like this earlier," Nami noticed, a delighted expression coming over her face.

"The weakness of a zombie is that they don't notice how much damage they've taken," Robin noted from somewhere below us.

"It's your shadow," Zoro said. "Finish him off, Luffy!"

Luffy started to call out the attack name. "GUM GUM...."

I started to hear encouraging yells from somewhere away from the battlefield; were the shadowless pirates cheering Luffy on, as well?

"GIANT BAZOOKA!!"

Luffy's giant hands collided with Oars' open mouth, and I gagged again when I saw the blood come spurting out of Oars' as he was forced in a downward direction. There came a loud _crack!_ that made me flinch back, as well.

"If he was actually alive," I muttered.

"He would have died already from Luffy's Nightmare form," Nami finished. "And that sounded like his spine snapped, so there's no way that he's going to be moving anytime soon."

Oars really took his time falling down. Luffy was quick to release him and move away from the giant monster, but Oars was bigger and had the rudder chain wrapped around him, too. When he did end up falling, he ended up bringing up such a cloud of dust that it was hard to see for a moment.

I could hear Lola clearly screaming her delight along with the other shadowless pirates, though: "THEY DID IT!!! THEY WON! THIS TIME, THEY REALLY DID IT!!!"

"We'd better get over there and check on Luffy," I commented, moving towards the edge of the rubble. "I want to be there when he gives Moriah a piece of his mind, too."

"You go on ahead," Nami responded, waving me on.

I didn't really think much of her until I had jumped back down to the ground; she probably didn't want to see Moriah face-to-face after all the fighting we had just gone through.

The shadowless pirates continued to cheer as I made my way across the rubble-strewn courtyard and over to the others, who were starting to gather together.

There came a loud gasp of shock suddenly from the shadowless pirates.

"Luffy!" Lola exclaimed. "Why did you shrink?!"

Wait...what?

I changed directions and started over to where I could see Lola was standing. I wove around through the group before coming to a stop next to the pink-haired pirate, where I simply stood blinking a couple times while trying to process the fact that Luffy looked like a miniature version of himself.

"Okay...I don't think I've seen a miniature version of Luffy before," I commented, blinking. "How could something like that happen?"

"It didn't hurt, but...I can't move for some reason," Oars spoke aloud suddenly.

I looked up sharply when I heard the zombie speak. "That thing is still conscious?! After everything that we did to it?!"

Nearby, Zoro pulled the black bandanna off his head and looked upwards. I looked over at him and frowned slightly when I saw the strange look that happened to be crossing his face...it almost looked like he was looking for something....

"Hey, Luffy!" Usopp suddenly barked. "Hurry up and get your shadows back! There's no time to celebrate -- you're all gonna die if you don't get them back right now!"

"Shadows..." realization flooded the masked Ricky Brother's voice. "That's right! We've gotta hurry!"

I nodded in agreement as Lola clenched her fists.

"Now, let's wake up Moriah, and force him to return our shadows!" Lola declared. "Dawn is just around the corner!"

The next voice I ended up hearing sent chills down my spine.

"There's no need...to wake me...."

I turned sharply in order to see the source of the voice behind me...and I froze in shock and surprise while the pirates around me gasped in shock and terror.

"Moriah!" they all exclaimed.

"Wait -- that's Moriah?" I pointed up at the pale-skinned, long-necked giant of a thing standing on Oars' stomach. The figure looked like some kind of bloated vampire or something.

Lola nodded, and her shocked expression morphed into something that looked like determination. "If he's awake, then that's good!" She glared up at Moriah. "Now, unless you want to get beaten by the Straw Hats again, release all of our shadows right now!"

I looked at her in surprise. "H-hey! You're willing to have us fight him after we only just defeated the zombie? I'm sure some of us would like a breather first!"

"That's right!" shouted another pirate, completely ignoring my comment. "Release them, you bastard!"

Moriah turned to look at us, opened his mouth...and a horrid screeching noise hit my ears.

"Kishishishishi!"

It took me a moment to realize that Moriah was _laughing._

"This isn't some children's fight -- a real pirate doesn't even fear death! So, they joined up with you, Forest Losers? That explains where Straw Hat got that ridiculous powerup! The nerve! Using my own shadow powers against me!"

I gritted my teeth at that. "Right back at you for stealing people's shadows in the first place!"

"How about you shut up and give us back our shadows?!" Lola barked.

Moriah ignored our comments, instead looking at the now-small Luffy. "Straw Hat! How dare you wreak such reckless havoc..." He paused to wheeze before continuing, "...All over my Thriller Bark like this!!"

"It's all because you got in the way!" Luffy barked back. I had to actually look back at him and watch as he continued to yell at Moriah, just to make sure that I was actually hearing him speak and not just some kid who sounded like a younger version of him. "Hurry up and give us back our shadows before the sun rises!"

Moriah gave us another round of his creepy laugh, causing me to flinch and look back at him. I couldn't help but feel uneasy, seeing how his teeth all looked like they belonged in a shark's mouth or something.

"Even if you continue your journey," Moriah said, "the only thing that awaits you is death! The New World is way out of your league! You might think you've gathered up a decent little crew, but you will only lose it all! Do you know why?"

I gripped my phoenix staff tightly, not exactly liking where it was that all of this was going. Especially since Moriah was looking even more and more crazed by the second.

"Hey, Straw Hat!" shouted one of the Risky Brothers. "There's no time to stand around and chat! Look at how bright the sky is! Hurry up and retrieve our shadows! WE'RE OUT OF TIME!"

I flinched a little when I heard the panicked yell, and looked at the sky with worry. They were right; the sky was already starting to look like it normally did in the morning.

"I speak out of experience!"

I looked back at Moriah sharply when I heard him say that.

"My subordinates were known far and wide, so why did I lose them all?!"

"I don't like where this is going," I muttered, frowning up at the crazy vampire monster standing on top of Oars.

"I lost my crew because they were all alive!"

I stiffened in shock.

"If they'd have been zombies from the start, I wouldn't have lost them!"

Black tendrils started to shoot out from Moriah and scatter in all directions; I jumped aside and watched one pass me by with an expression of horror.

"For zombies are immortal! Even if they're purified, they can be replaced! As the master of this immortal army, I will once again aim for the title of Pirate King! You should be glad that your shadows get to be my tools!"

 _That_ statement sent so many alarm bells into my head. I glared up at Moriah, starting to feel warmer than I normally did. He saw his subordinates as mere tools? I had run into plenty of Pokemon Trainers who thought the same thing about their Pokemon teams -- and those Trainers were parts of the evil organizations that I had been pitted against.

Plus _this guy_ thought that _he_ was going to become the Pirate King? No way was I going to let that happen!

"Now, all the shadows of Thriller Bark...become my power! Shadows Asgard!"

The black shadows on the ground suddenly started to convulse, and small bulges started to come through all of them and move towards Moriah.

I started to move back a few steps when I saw that the shadows were starting to do something to Moriah himself.

"He's gathering all the shadows from the island and is putting them into his own body!" Nami exclaimed as I moved back.

I looked back at the navigator in alarm. "Then he's doing the exact same thing that Luffy did not too long ago!"

I looked back at the monster in the center of the shifting black masses...and I just about gagged. Moriah was starting to look more and more ugly by the second. And by "ugly," I mean "bloated."

"Straw Hat! You took in about one hundred shadows, didn't you?!" Moriah called out. "Then I shall absorb one hundred...two hundred...three hundred...four hundred...five hundred..."

Moriah's bloatedness continued to increase with each number he spoke, and I once again found myself on the verge of gagging -- not because of blood, but just because of how _wrong_ Moriah looked.

Somehow, in connection with that, I got a flash of what looked like a bright blue, humanoid crystal monster with orange cracks forming all over its form. Considering that it was probably as tall as Moriah was now, and looked equally dangerous -- if not, more so -- I couldn't help but shudder in terror at the thought of running into something like that.

"Six hundred...."

Moriah's feet had broken out of his shoes by now, leaving their stinky ugliness for all to see. It looked like they hadn't been properly cared for in months.

"Seven hundred...eight hundred...nine hundred...Kishishishishishi! One Thousand!"

I couldn't believe how big it was that Moriah had managed to get. Now, he looked more like a demon-zombie-monster than any of the other things that happened to be on the island!

How in the name of Arceus were we going to defeat something like that?!


	20. That's one Bloated Leek. Or is it an Onion?

** Maria's POV **

Nami looked like she didn't believe what we were seeing. "One thousand...."

"Shadows..." Chopper continued.

"Within Moriah?" Usopp squeaked in fear.

"What a bastard," Franky growled from nearby.

"This is bad," I commented, gripping my staff in both hands. "We only just took out his zombie-giant-monster thing. How are we going to take out _him?_ He's almost as big as Oars was! Maybe even bigger!"

Moriah let out a twisted, slower version of his laugh. It sounded warped, dark, and like something that was possessed.

A screech echoed through the back of my mind, and I winced as a humanoid monster made of blue and orange crystal appeared in my memory. And _that_ thing looked like he wasn't as big as Moriah was -- or as fat, for that matter.

A name seemed to echo at the back of my head at the same time. _Rourke...._

Something told me that was the name of the crystal monster.

"Ah, back to normal!"

I turned my head when I heard Luffy's voice, and I let out a noise of relief when I saw that he was no longer shrunken. That was going to help a lot with taking Moriah out. I didn't think that we could take him on without our captain.

"It's nearly morning!" one of the Rolling Pirates called out in a panic. "We're out of time!"

"Even Strawhat couldn't defeat Oars with one hundred shadows," another continued. "But ten times that amount? How much power can his body absorb?"

"That's a question I'd rather not have answered," I commented. Nami nodded dumbly in agreement.

Moriah started roaring, and it almost looked like his bloated neck was convulsing a little...I wanted to gag when I saw that. Or run. I mean, what if that thing decided to upchuck on the lot of us?

"We're done for!" A shadowless pirate wailed.

And the depressed statements from the victims wasn't helping matters, either. It felt like I was having an argument with myself -- half wanted to turn tail and run, and half wanted to unleash everything I had on Moriah! I didn't know what it was that I should do next!

"He absorbed Luffy's shadow, too," Franky spoke up then.

"And mine," Robin added.

"And he's probably got all the shadows from the island in him," Sanji commented.

I swallowed nervously, and I started twirling my staff. "We're going to have to beat him if we want to get them back."

Moriah stopped his roaring and looked down at us with what looked like an angry glare, and the Rolling Pirates around us started yelling in fear.

"Run! We don't stand a chance!"

I glanced at some of the pirates as they passed by us; I think I caught sight of the one who had led me to their camp earlier -- Pan, I think his name was. He looked over at me for a moment, then turned his head and picked up his pace.

I turned my attention back to Moriah, gritting my teeth. I set fire to my staff as I muttered, "I've faced Pokemon that have been as big as this before. Dialga, Palkia...Rayquaza...Kyurem."

Moriah pulled back a fist and threw it forward, roaring. It didn't hit any one of us -- at least, the fist's impact -- but the ground was broken up really badly as a result. I managed to keep my footing and ended up in what looked like a half-crouch, my staff still on fire.

"If there are nine of us here rather than two or three, then we should be able to take him out, right?" I looked around at the others. None of them had taken their eyes off the monster in front of them, which I took to be a good sign. Even Usopp hadn't moved, but he looked pretty terrified.

"Maybe, but the situation is still going from bad to worse," Zoro muttered. "He's completely lost it."

"His rage and foolish pride are fueling his madness," Robin agreed.

I flinched back and grabbed at my head as I got a quick blast of two visions: first, remembering both times that I took Dialga on in his Primal, crazy form, and then a silver-haired boy, trapped in darkness...a brown-haired boy trying to get him out of his madness...

_ And I'm watching all of this on the other side of a glass screen while a darkened figure is pressing buttons on some kind of strange device.... _

But what does the second vision mean? Was it a memory?

"Hey, everyone."

I looked over at Luffy, who had actually taken a step towards the monster. "We're almost out of time."

I looked around for a moment, then caught sight of a small ray of sunlight shining through one of the windows of the destroyed mansion. A chill ran down my spine when I saw that.

"This is gonna be a bit reckless," Luffy continued. "Whatever happens afterwards, I want you guys to take care of the rest."

My eyebrows furrowed as the fire on my staff faded. "Luffy, what are you planning on doing?"

"You can count on us!" Franky called out.

"Take him down!" Usopp added.

"Hey, you morons!"

I nearly jolted in surprise when I heard the voice of one of the Risky Brothers.

"What's with you guys? Are you out of your damn minds?! There's no way you can win here ! That monster has the strength of a thousand people!"

"That's right -- think it over!" added the other Risky Brother. "He absorbed all of your shadows, which means he's got your powers! On top of that, you've only got a few minutes!"

I turned my head and glanced back at them, and noticed with shock that Lola was standing in a ray of sunlight...and looked like she was starting to burn up. Was that what happened when someone who lost their shadow stands in sunlight?

"Shut your mouth if you're not going to help us out," Zoro said, looking back with an annoyed glare. He looked back as he added, "This battle's already over, and Moriah knows he's lost it."

I blinked a couple times, looking back and forth between Moriah -- who hadn't moved since his punch -- and Zoro. I wasn't exactly sure what Zoro meant by that, but a part of me was pretty confident that he was right.

It was a small part, though.

"However, our real enemy here is the sun -- which means it's a fight against the clock. Moriah has exceeded his limits in order to buy as much time as possible."

I heard a strange noise come from somewhere nearby, and I turned my head in the direction that it had come from. I blinked in confusion when I saw that Luffy had turned _pink_ and was releasing _steam._

"Second Gear," Luffy announced grimly.

Moriah started growling as he looked down at Luffy, as though he was sensing a challenge.

"There are only two ways things can go at this point," Zoro continued. "Either the sun wipes us out, or Moriah destroys himself."

I personally hoped that it was the latter.

"Go, Luffy!" Chopper called out. "Take him down!"

That seemed to be the starting signal for the fight. Moriah started slamming down on the ground, breaking the rubble that was lying there into even smaller pieces as he tried to hit Luffy.

And I do mean "tried." I couldn't keep track of how fast Luffy was moving! It almost looked like he was teleporting!

Did he use the move Agility or something? No, wait -- I remember him mentioning something about this...wasn't it a technique that he based off the Six Powers or something?

It didn't take Luffy too long to find an opening. He reached out and grabbed Moriah's belt with both hands, stretching his arms out incredibly far. "Gum Gum...Jet Rocket!"

_ Wham! _ Moriah got hit right in the gut, causing him to suddenly look sick. He dug his bare, ugly feet into the rubble before he opened his mouth...and little black things started flying out between his sharpened teeth.

"Look!" came a Rolling Pirate's call from behind us. "The shadows are coming out of him!"

I looked on with an expression of delight and surprise. "I hope one of those shadows is yours, guys."

Luffy had probably noticed the shadows, too, despite the fact that he was attacking Moriah. From his position in the air, he rammed his hands into Moria's gut repeatedly. "Jet Bazooka!" _Wham!_ "Jet Bazooka!" _Wham!_ "Jet Bazooka!" _Wham!_

"Those shadows are leaving him, one after another!" a shadowless pirate called out. "Isn't he supposed to be in control of them?"

"It looks like Moriah's losing control over them as he loses consciousness!" Usopp called back. "Not even his mind is powerful enough to handle that many shadows at once!"

"If this had been any other place, Moriah would probably have turned himself into a shadow by now," I commented, frowning as I drew on my memories. "Especially considering how heartless he is."

"Eh?" Chopper looked at me in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Explain _after_ we're done here," Zoro snapped. "Moriah still has our shadows, remember?"

"Gum Gum--"

"Brick Bat!" Moriah screeched, interrupting Luffy.

I flinched back in alarm and surprise when I saw that a good number of the shadows that had left Moriah suddenly turned into a horde of bats that flew towards Luffy, who had somehow managed to attach himself to a still-standing wall. It didn't take too long before he was encased in a...

"Black Box!" Moriah declared, grinning maniacally.

Yeah. That.

"Disappear!" Moriah brought back a fist and slammed it into Luffy's position, causing the rest of us to raise cries of alarm.

"Luffy!" I called out in alarm.

The Rolling Pirates didn't seem to take the sight too well, either, considering how they were wailing behind us.

"Straw Hat!" someone yelled.

Moriah seemed to catch sight of something as the rubble fell, because he lifted a foot and slammed it downward. I could only guess who it was that he was stomping on.

"This is your baptism!" Moriah declared with glee. "This is what happens to amateurs like you who try to act big in this sea!"

He stomped again, and I flinched back.

"This is what happens when you mess with one of the Seven Warlords!"

This wasn't good.... A shudder ran down my spine at the thought of how much force Moriah was probably putting into his stomping. How was Luffy going to be able to survive this?

Moriah stomped again. "Learn your place in this world!" And again. "A nail that sticks out will be hammered back into place!"

Moriah slammed his foot into the rubble, panting heavily. Was having all of those shadows in him starting to really push him to his limit?

The monstrous thing removed his foot from where he had been stomping. I could barely see what looked like a crumpled black and purple box...that wasn't moving.

"Luffy-san!" Brook called out.

"Luffy!" Chopper and I practically screeched together.

"Luffy!" Usopp yelled.

The box moved, making a noise that sounded like metal being hit.

I blinked in surprise.

"What is--" Franky started.

The box made the noise again. When it would have made the noise a third time, Luffy suddenly tore the box apart with a punch from the inside. And he was still glowing pink and releasing steam.

And I could hear him panting heavily from where I was standing.

"I don't care if I'm an amateur," Luffy said after he managed to catch his breath.

Moriah looked genuinely surprised. I couldn't help but be a little confused...but then I remembered that I had been in similar situations before -- both as a Pokemon and as a Trainer.

Taking on Team Rocket, even though you only have about half of the Gym Badges of Kanto? That's a pretty big feat for a ten-year-old. Or a sixteen-year-old in a ten-year-old body, if Palkia's whole physical age-warping-thing is taken into account. As an "amateur," nobody thought I could do it. And then I proved them wrong.

"Or if I'm sticking out," Luffy continued. "No one can crush me!"

The surprised look on Moriah's face turned into an amused one. "No one can crush you? What makes you think that you're so indestructible?"

"Cause rubber bounces back!"

I grinned at Luffy's response. Obviously, the Warlord hadn't really noticed that Luffy hadn't been ground to a pulp in that Black Box thing.

"Mark my words, I'll make you spit out all those shadows!" Luffy declared, glaring up at the now-angry Moriah.

It was at this point that I noticed that the sun was starting to get higher up. I only really noticed when I heard some of the Rolling Pirates yelling about it behind us. I wasn't about to keep my attention on them for long, though.

"Third Gear!"

I looked at Luffy in surprise. He was still in his fast mode _and_ he was inflating himself?

"Bone Balloon!" Luffy moved the air from his arm and into his chest.

"Hey! Is it okay to use both of those techniques at once?!" Franky demanded.

"There's no way!" Usopp responded. He turned and started yelling at Luffy. "Hey! Did you forget that Second Gear alone wears out your body?!"

Uh oh.... That's not good!

"Don't be reckless Luffy!" Chopper screamed. "Your body will be torn apart!"

Luffy ignored their cries as he prepared to attack. "Gum Gum...Giant Jet Shell!"

Somehow, Luffy managed to shoot himself forward and into Moriah's neck, where he started to push in as hard as he could. I couldn't help but wonder if he was going to leave a dent in Moria's neck when he was done!

Moriah's mouth opened up in a gag reflex, releasing the shadows.

"It's working, Luffy!" I called out. "It shouldn't take much longer!"

Moriah, however, was having none of it. He clamped his hands over his mouth. "I won't let my army get away!"

I heard a bouncing noise, and I looked down for only a moment; Luffy had landed back on the ground again, still full of air.

"Shadows!" Moriah shouted, his hands still over his mouth. "I am your master!"

Ohh, Moriah was really starting to get on my nerves, now. After all that hard work, he still refuses to let go?

"Shadow!"

Lola? I glanced back at the Rolling Pirate captain, surprised that she hadn't been burned entirely by the sun yet.

"Come back to me!" Lola yelled.

"Captain Lola!" came a number of yells from the other shadowless pirates.

"Can you hear me, shadow?!" Lola yelled. "We've been together ever since we were born!"

The flames that were eating away at her head suddenly increased with a bright flare, causing me to stiffen up a little. I was tempted to see if I could absorb them, but something about these flames was...different...from the normal ones.

They could end up harming me rather than giving me energy back, if they're anything like Airam's.

"We were born into this world together!" Lola continued. "Please, come back! For three long years, I kept looking for the zombie in which you were trapped! And now you're right before me, aren't you?! If you can hear me, please come back!"

"Captain Lola!" A number of Rolling Pirates -- including the Risky Brothers -- ran forward and slammed Lola to the ground.

"Please take cover in the wall's shade already!" said one of the Risky Brothers.

"Your body could disappear!" agreed the other.

"But...it's awful!" Lola protested. "Just when I've finally found it!"

I nodded slightly in agreement before sending a glare up at Moriah.

"Indeed," agreed the second Risky Brother. "Right now, all of our shadows must be inside Moriah!"

"We're never going to get a chance like this again!" added the first. "Unfortunately...the enemy is a Warlord."

I started to hear calls from the other Rolling Pirates. "Come back to me, shadow!"

"Come back!"

Pan's voice suddenly came out with a loud cry. "Don't forget our dream, shadow! It's the one thing that we've really managed to hang onto!"

"Come back! Come back! Come back!"

"You know what, I've got some words for my shadow, too!" Luffy suddenly called out.

I looked over, and saw with surprise and shock that he was still inflated -- and still in Second Gear.

"If you really want to be the shadow of the King of the Pirates, then you'd better shape up...and come back to me!" Luffy launched himself at Moriah again, hitting the exact same place that he had rammed into before.

"Take that!" I couldn't help yelling as Moriah was rammed backwards into the mast-castle behind him. The entire thing started creaking and groaning, causing Moriah to turn around...mere seconds before it fell right on top of him. Mast, rudder, flag -- the whole thing. It brought up a large cloud of dust as it collapsed -- not only over the remains of the mansion, but over the forest outside of it, too!

I could hear Moriah gagging from where I was standing. "Curse you, Straw Hat! I dare you to go to the New World! The real nightmare awaits you in the New World!"

Moriah stopped talking then. I wondered if he had lost consciousness, because a tower of black suddenly shot up from the other side of the stone and wood rubble.

"Our shadows are coming back!" one of the Rolling Pirates called out. "Here they come!"

The shadows kept shooting upward. None of them seemed to branch off or more towards us, though.

_ Crack! _

I was suddenly blinded by a blast of light; I held up an arm in order to stave off the sunlight that was --

_ Hang on a second. _

Panic started to well up within me when I realized what exactly it was that was shining on me. "The sun...."

Nearby, something exploded into flames. I turned sharply when I heard the noise...and saw that Zoro had lost the upper half of his head.

I let out a yelp and jumped back in shock when Robin and Sanji followed suit -- Robin lost the entirety of her head while Sanji lost nearly all of his upper half to the flames of sunlight.

"No no no no no!" I quickly turned and looked around for Luffy...who hadn't escaped the sun's rays, either. He was lying on the rubbly remains of the mansion, clearly half gone. "No! Where are their shadows?!"

"What's going on?!" Usopp wailed. "Didn't we take down Moriah?!"

"Luffy!" Chopper cried at the top of his lungs.

This wasn't good...we'd defeated the enemy...and we'd still lost?

Other calls of pain started to reach those of us who still had our shadows -- obviously, the Rolling Pirates hadn't escaped the sunlight, either.

"Hey, Zoro!" Usopp was in tears.

"Robin!" Nami cried.

"Sanji!" Chopper wailed.

"Their bodies are vanishing!" all three of them wailed at once.

"Why?! Didn't we win?!" Franky had his hands over his ears in an expression of panic.

"I thought we did!" I gulped in response. "The shadows shot out of Moriah and went up into the sky...." I looked back, only to see that there weren't any more black shapes shooting upwards. "But why haven't their shadows come back?!"

"Dang it!" Franky cursed. "Were we too late?!"

"I thought we won, damn it!" came a unanimous cry from the Rolling Pirates.

I was starting to wonder about what was going to happen to us now...when black forms suddenly started falling out of the sky in forms that I thought almost looked familiar....


	21. Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire

** Maria's POV **

I couldn't believe what had just happened. I blinked, then rubbed my eyes vigorously to make sure that I wasn't falling asleep from exhaustion. Then I looked again.

Zoro _laughed_ as he looked himself over, completely whole and without so much as a burn mark on him from where the sun had touched him. "Phew! Look at that. Guess it wasn't my day to die after all." He flexed one of his arms, grinning widely.

"For a second there, I thought that I was about to go to heaven," Robin agreed, looking very much relieved herself.

"Sounds good to me!" Sanji declared, his lovey-dovey self again as he looked at Robin. "If we can go together, I'd love to go to heaven!"

Usopp was the first of the rest of us to get out of our shocked stupor. "Stop laughing, you jerks! We seriously thought you were dead! You nearly vanished!"

"That was terrifying!" Nami and Chopper agreed, sitting on a pile of rubble and leaning against each other.

"That almost reminded me of the time that I was nearly erased from the timestream," I muttered, recalling what had happened back when I was a Pokemon. I shuddered a bit, then shook my head in order to get the memory out.

"Goodness, that was bad for my heart!" Brook commented. "Not that I have a heart." The skeleton turned around and looked at the sunlight that was streaming through the rubble.

Brook's movements caused the rest of us to turn, as well, and look up at the sky.

I gave a soft hum as I felt the sun warming my skin. It felt like an old friend who had come to push away the nightmares of our dreams. Even though we were still on Thriller Bark, it kind of felt like all our troubles were over.

"It's the morning sun!" roared one of the Risky Brothers as the Rolling Pirates cried out with joy.

"I'm not afraid of the sun anymore!" the other Risky Brother agreed.

"I have my shadow back!" Lola called out.

I looked over at the Rolling Pirates as they started dancing about in the sunlight, cheering happily.

"I can kiss goodbye to life in that dark forest!"

"Hurray! Hurray!"

"It looks like everyone survived," Chopper said with relief from somewhere nearby. I turned and looked over in the reindeer's direction, and saw that everyone had moved over to where Luffy was...lying...on top of a piece of rubble.

Our poor captain was still knocked out? That fight must have taken a lot out of him....

"The sunlight had definitely begun to erase our existence," Robin commented as I moved closer to the rest of the crew. "But our bodies were fully restored when our shadows returned to us in the nick of time."

"It's probably along the same lines of how Moriah could alter a body's shape by manipulating its shadow," Sanji remarked.

I blinked when I heard that, then frowned and cocked my head to one side. "Is that why Oars was able to stretch his arm? Because Moriah was messing with his shadow?"

"Yup." Nami looked over at me. "That's right -- you weren't there for most of that."

I shook my head. "Yeah. I came in when Nightmare Luffy did."

"All I know is that our bodies and shadows have to match," Sanji continued.

"Relax," Zoro spoke up. "This is the only time we're ever gonna have the fun of losing our shadows."

"You call that fun?" I stared at him incredulously. "Seriously? I'm looking at this whole thing like it's a Halloween-infested nightmare. And none of _that_ was really fun."

"You looked like you were having fun beating the crap out of the zombies." The swordsman turned his attention to me with a wide grin.

"Gah!" I wasn't expecting him to say that! But...then again....

"Ah...." I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "I kinda did turn purifying the zombies into a game, didn't I?"

Usopp let out a sigh of relief. "Anyway, I'm just glad that's over, and that no one ended up disappearing for good."

Franky let out a sigh from where he was sitting on the ground. "I'm feelin' really wiped out all of a sudden. Is there any cola around here?"

I sighed at the question. "After how much we've torn everything apart...?"

"All of the strange creatures and phenomena we've seen since coming ashore were nothing more than a ruse put on by Moriah," Sanji spoke aloud. "Now that he's been defeated, there's nothing left on this island. Just like waking from a nightmare in the morning, everything's vanished. I for one am really glad that it's over."

"You got that right," I muttered, nodding in agreement. "Even the graveyards I've been to in the past weren't this bad...if there had been zombie Pokemon at every single one of them, then I might have developed the same fears of ghosts that Brook has."

I'm considering myself lucky that it was just in the Kanto region that I ran into a vengeful Pokemon spirit. If there had been things like that everywhere else...I don't want to think about it.

I heard flapping wings over our heads, and I glanced up. I smiled when I saw a pair of birds flying past, chirping cheerily.

"Hey. Didn't Luffy shrink back there?"

I looked back down when I heard Zoro's voice, and I looked over at our unconscious captain with a concerned frown. "Well, he's back to normal now...."

"He told me that after he uses the Giant Gear -- or Third Gear -- his body shrinks for however long he used that gear," Chopper explained. "It's a side-effect."

I stiffened slightly in surprise when I heard that. "If that happens when he uses Third Gear, what happens to his body when he uses Second Gear? That's got to be pretty hard on him, too."

I couldn't help but wonder what happened to Luffy when he turned pink and started to release steam like that. It was almost like he was building up a fire on the inside...but that would have melted his rubbery self, so that couldn't be it.

"Don't you think Luffy's new fighting style is too hard on his body?" Usopp asked in a concerned tone. "I'm worried.... If the enemies waiting ahead of us only continue to get stronger, he's gonna keep pushing himself."

Something about Usopp's statement made me think of the attack that I had used earlier in our fight on the island -- back when Franky, Robin, Luffy, and I had been fighting the zombies in that carnival room.

_ White Flare, 100 percent.... _

Was that an attack I had learned to use that pushed myself? Is that why I had felt so exhausted afterwards?

"We need to pull our own weight better," Usopp muttered, his grip tightening on his staff-like slingshot.

"You're right," Nami agreed.

Chopper and I nodded slightly in agreement -- I did it in a more absent motion.

White Flare was a powerful attack, sure, but if I managed to get better control of it...and find more attacks to use instead of it...then I might be able to get up to the others' more powerful levels.

There came the sound of footsteps somewhere near us, and I turned my head with the others when I heard the noise...

"Gah!" I let out a yelp and jumped back in surprise.

"Zombie!" Usopp yelped, scrambling away from the rather tired, old-looking figure with the bandages wrapped around him and a lantern in one hand. "One of them still has its shadow!"

"No, I'm just a severely injured old man," the figure corrected.

"That's too confusing!" Usopp barked back. "Just pass yourself off as a zombie!"

I let out a sigh and shook my head, facepalming.

"Aren't you the old man we met at the graveyard?" Sanji asked.

"Hmm?" I looked up at the old man again, blinking. It took me a moment to recognize him. "Oh, yeah -- you're right."

"I can't believe it. I never dreamed that I would see the day that I could walk under the sun again," the old man said in an appreciative tone. "Thank you! How could I ever repay you?"

"Hey! Grandpa Spoil!"

I turned my head when I heard Lola's voice, blinking when I saw that she and the rest of the Rolling Pirates were running towards us.

"Honorary President of the Victim Association!" one of the Risky Brothers called.

The old man -- Grandpa Spoil, I guess his name was -- turned to look over at the oncoming pirates. "Oh, you guys! So, you pulled through?"

"Gramps, are you all right?" Lola asked as she came to a stop near us. The rest of the Rolling Pirates followed suit, stopping behind their captain.

"Yeah!"

"You know each other?" Usopp asked, looking back and forth between the old man and Lola in confusion.

"Oh!" Lola turned and looked at the rest of us. "Come to think of it, we still haven't thanked you."

"We're grateful from the bottom of our hearts," said the brown-haired Risky Brother. "Sorry for all the trouble we've caused you."

"When we saw all the mayhem you caused, we figured that if you couldn't do it, no one could!" added the masked Risky Brother.

"Thank you," Lola continued. "No one in Thriller Bark's Victim Association..."

Lola and the old man moved to get on their knees, and the rest of them followed suit, much to my surprise.

"...will ever forget the debt we owe you!" Lola finished.

"Thank you very much!" the entire group chorused.

"If there is anything you'd like, please say the word!" the old man added. "There isn't much, but we have some food reserves."

"Better yet, you're welcome to marry me!" Lola declared as she rose to her feet.

"Gah!" I stepped back, gagging.

"We'll pass!" Chopper, Zoro, Sanji, Franky, and Usopp all yelled back at once.

"Five men turned her down all at once!" the Risky Brothers exclaimed. "She's been rejected 4,449 times!"

I looked at the two of them like they were insane. It looked like they were really happy about the rejections for some reason....

"You really don't need to thank us," Zoro commented, rubbing one side of his head.

"Don't say that!" Lola protested.

"Remember what Luffy said, Gramps?"

"I'm especially interested in you!"

"We simply fought to suit our own needs."

"Will you marry me?"

"By Chaos and all the Legendaries of Neo-Mobius," I muttered at Lola's exclamation. I facepalmed again and shook my head.

Zoro ignored Lola's question, just like he had ignored her previous comments involving marriage. "We just saved you while we were at it."

_ SMACK! _

"How could you say that?!" Nami demanded as Zoro went flying from her slap. "They actually _want_ to thank us!"

I flinched as Zoro went rolling into a nearby piece of rubble, and absently rubbed my cheek. "Um, _ow,_ Nami? That looked like it hurt."

"Good." Nami folded her arms across her chest in a huff.

"Yeah! You should listen to her, Bro!" the masked Risky Brother called. "Let us do something for you!"

"We don't care if you saved us on the side or not!" added the brown-haired Risky Brother. "We're grateful that you defeated Moriah."

"I know, right?" Nami turned around and looked at the pirates...and I suddenly gained an uneasy feeling.

"Uh, your eyes...." Usopp trailed off uncertainly, as though he wasn't sure whether or not he should mention that it looked like Nami's eyes had turned into Beri symbols.

"I know! Why don't you swipe all of Moriah's treasure?" the brown-haired Risky Brother suggested.

"We'll load it onto the ship for you!" the masked Brother added.

Glad they picked up on Nami's greed so quickly....

"Oh, it's already on...." Nami trailed off, and she suddenly gained a look of shock that caused her to pale.

"Huh?" I blinked in confusion for a moment, then frowned at Nami's expression. "What's--"

I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine, and I almost felt like there was something...dangerous nearby.

"Oh, no! I forgot about something important!" Nami covered her mouth with a hand out of shock.

"What is it?' Usopp asked warily.

"I had totally forgotten about him...."

"Him?" I repeated. A second, more powerful chill ran down my spine, and something at the back of my head said that there was something...behind us....

"What's the matter?" Robin asked.

Nami turned to look back at the archeologist. "We've got a problem!"

_ ::I see:: _

I whirled around and looked up as the rest of the crew did the same. I looked up at the fallen stone tower that had been the base of a mast...and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

_ ::My greatest fears have become an unfortunate reality:: _

"So it would seem."

There was...a figure sitting on top of the sideways tower...talking to someone on a Snail Phone?

"Who is that?" Usopp asked, confused.

"There he is..." Nami whimpered.

"There who is?" I looked at the orange-haired navigator. I frowned when I saw that it looked like she was having a minor panic attack.

"Everyone, remain calm and hear me out," Nami said carefully. "During our fight with Moriah...I kinda forgot to mention this. There is one more person on this island...who is a member of the Seven Warlords!"

_ What?! _

I stared at Nami in shock while the rest of us who were conscious started in surprise.

"Wh-what did you say?" Usopp stuttered. Shock passed across his face, and he looked up at the figure on the tower again. "That's a..."

"A Warlord?!" the rest of us joined in.

"Th-this isn't good!" Usopp yelped.

"What are two of the Seven Warlords doing on the same island?!" Chopper demanded.

_ ::Of course, all of this happens just when we finally chose a successor for Crocodile:: _ a voice echoed in the air. It sounded kind of metallic -- almost like it was coming through a speaker of some kind. _::Losing another Warlord in such a short time is a bad example. Is he still breathing, even if barely?::_

"I don't know," responded a soft voice. That one sounded more clear -- probably the Warlord who happened to be sitting right on the island.

_ ::If he is still alive, we will wait for his recovery and hope he can maintain his position as one of the Seven Warlords for a while. We can take further measures later. If we lose one Warlord after the next, the title will cease to demand respect. This information must not get out to the public. These damn Straw Hats are such a nuisance:: _

Information mustn't get to the public...?

Uh oh.

"I recognize him!" Lola realized. "Nearly as large as Moriah...that pirate was called the 'Tyrant'. He's Bartholomew Kuma!"

"That's Tyrant Kuma?!" called one of the Risky Brothers. I wasn't about to turn around and see who was speaking, though.

"You mean the pirate who's cruelty knows no bounds?!" the other Risky Brother added.

_ ::I feel that I've made my orders quite clear on this matter:: _ the metallic voice said again. _::Do not leave witnesses to testify that Straw Hat defeated Moriah::_

I think my temperature dropped when I heard that.

_ ::The World Government is assigning you a special mission: Obliterate the Straw Hat crew and everyone else on Thriller Bark. Leave no one alive:: _

I sucked in a breath sharply. "And after we'd just taken care of Moriah and fought all night against his zombies--!"

"Simple enough," the Warlord -- Kuma -- said in his soft voice.

The Rolling Pirates started muttering amongst themselves, sounding nervous. I couldn't blame them.

I gritted my teeth. This was _not_ going to be fun.

Kuma started moving from where he was sitting. I couldn't see his features too well because I was pretty much looking at the sun, but from what I could tell, he had a _massive_ upper body -- and not the kind that came with flabby weight. This looked more like pure _muscle._

At the same time, though, something at the back of my mind was sending me repeated alarm bells -- almost as though there was something different here, too. I wasn't exactly sure what to make of them, though, except for the fact that something told me that this fight was going to be a _lot_ harder than it seemed.

And it was looking pretty bad already.

"No way!" Usopp was starting to panic. "We can't fight two Warlords in a row!"

"It took everything we had to defeat Moriah," Chopper commented worriedly. "We're worn out and done for!"

Zoro got to his feet wordlessly and started moving forward. I didn't really notice until he was starting to unsheathe one of his swords.

"Guys, get back," Zoro said without looking back at us. "I'll take him on."

I stared at the swordsman in shock. "Zoro, what are you -- you're just about as tired as the rest of us! Maybe even more so!"

"Be careful," Nami warned. "He uses some kind of power! I saw someone vanish when he touched her with his hand!"

I stiffened when I heard that.

"Th-the people he touches vanish?!" Usopp yelped.

"That's scary!" Chopper agreed.

"And he can teleport," Nami continued.

"Teleport?" I started to feel really uneasy. "That's a Pokemon move...only for those with Psychic capabilities...." I bit my lower lip and looked up at Kuma, who hadn't moved. "Did he eat a Devil Fruit that allowed him to use that technique on himself and others?"

"Sounds like we've got a freak on our hands!" Franky commented.

I swallowed and nodded slightly in agreement.

Up above us, Kuma seemed to shift. I heard the sound of what seemed to be fabric moving.

"Don't let him touch you -- it's dangerous!" Nami said, repeating her earlier warning.

I heard the noise of fabric being moved again, and I couldn't help but stiffen up. I saw Kuma move one hand to his side...and I managed to see that his skin was a darkish tan color that was similar to Usopp's.

Then there was a popping noise, and... _and Kuma wasn't on top of the toppled mast anymore!_

There came a number of yells from the Rolling Pirates behind us, and I turned sharply when I heard them moving and shifting weapons. What I saw caused me to jump back in shock.

"Gah! How did -- I didn't even see him move to activate the technique!" I exclaimed in shock, seeing that Kuma was now standing _among the Rolling Pirates._

And Kuma was _huge._ He looked like he could ride Dialga like anyone else would ride a horse!

"When did he get down here?!" one of the Rolling Pirates called out in alarm and fear.

"I see. I'd definitely call that teleporting," Franky said in a dark tone.

"Damn it!" shouted one of the Risky Brothers. "We were only just freed from Moriah's curse! There's no way that I'm gonna die here!"

"Right!" the other agreed. "I'll never let someone stand between us and our voyage ever again! Guys, get him!"

Wait -- what are they going to --

"Stop it, all of you!" Lola called out. "This guy's way too strong! Back off!"

Her call didn't stop her crew from running towards Kuma, swords raised.

Kuma relaxed one of his hands -- the one that wasn't holding a book -- then brought it forward into one of the pirates. I flinched back in alarm and shock at the shockwave that followed afterwards.

"Wh-what the..." I stared at the trench in the ground that had been left behind. "That's definitely not a Teleport move...his Devil Fruit has to give him some other type of ability." I gulped. "And I don't think I want to be on the receiving end of that!"

Another popping noise suddenly echoed in the air, and Kuma vanished from sight.

At least, momentarily.

I felt a chill run down my spine as something told me to turn around. I did so, slowly, if only to see what exactly it was that my body was warning me about.

I nearly jumped out of my socks when I saw that Kuma was now directly behind Zoro -- and I could actually see him a little more clearly.

White pants with black spots...a strange-looking target on a black jacket of some kind...a white hat with what looked like bear ears and--

Hold on. _Kuma was holding a Bible._

What use would a guy like _him_ have for that book?

Zoro actually had something of an uneasy expression as he turned around to look up at Kuma.

"Pirate Hunter Zoro," Kuma said in his soft voice. "Shall I start with you?"

That...that doesn't sound good.


	22. Kuma's Bomb

** Maria's POV **

As I looked up at the monster of a Warlord from where I stood with the others -- a short distance behind Zoro -- I could hear some of the Rolling Pirates talking behind me.

"H-Hey! Get it together!"

"What did that bastard do?!"

"He didn't even touch them -- something just shot through!"

"What kind of power does this guy have?!"

Something shot through them...? I hope that Zoro can deflect something like that.

"What kind of sick twist of fate is this?" Lola asked in a grim tone. "For an untold number of years, we've been living in that dark forest under Moriah's rule. Yet, before we even have a chance to rejoice, another Warlord appears and wants to massacre us?!"

I felt something twist in my gut, and caught sight of a muscular man at the back of my mind -- Rourke, I think his name was -- waving a weathered piece of paper in front of the face of a skinny man with large, round glasses that looked like they were too big for his face.

_ "So, that's where the missing page went. How did you--" _

_ "He never really noticed a difference in it after I took it out." _

Then I saw Rourke carting away what looked like a steel box with a frosted, circular window...leaving behind a large group of people as blue lights hung around their necks died, leaving unlit crystals....

"This guy has no sense of honor! He knows what the Straw Hats just went through and the shape they're in! He's just kicking 'em when they're down!"

I shook my head at the sounding of a Rolling Pirates' voice, bringing me out of my memories and back to the destroyed mansion.

"Screw the odds!" another pirate barked. "We're the ones left with no injuries, so _we're_ gonna deal with you!"

I stiffened at that. They wanted to _what?_

"Warlord or whatever! Compared to Oars and Moriah earlier, you're not that big!"

"Are they insane?" I demanded under my breath. "After what Kuma did a second ago?"

"Drop the big talk and stay back," Zoro called back. "I'm the one he called out. You heard it as well as I did."

I swallowed at Zoro's statement. If anything, he was just as wounded as the others...come to think of it, I hadn't put myself in harm's way like they had.

...I probably wouldn't do much better against Kuma than Zoro possibly could, though.

"I'll give him the fight he wants," Zoro added, still not turning to look back at us. "You wanna talk about honor? Then don't butt in!"

I gritted my teeth nervously before looking up at the large monster of a man in front of us. Just taking in their different sizes alone told me that Zoro was going to be in for the fight of his life.

"Your crew's developed quite the popular reputation," Kuma said. It felt weird, listening to that soft voice compared to that large body of his.

A saying ended up popping into my head -- "Talk softly and carry a big stick"? What did _that_ mean?

"It would seem that some of the tales of your crew are true, though. It's clear that Straw Hat Luffy has staffed his ship with skilled underlings," Kuma continued.

"No, no, no, no! You idiot!"

I jumped and looked at Nami, Usopp, Franky, Sanji, and Chopper in alarm as they acted as though Kuma had just heaped _praise_ on them.

"He didn't mean all of you!" Lola barked.

"Th-that much is obvious," I responded, nervous. "I don't think that I'm up to that kind of power yet."

"You leave a trail of trouble in your wake everywhere you go."

I looked up abruptly as Kuma spoke up again.

"The infamy isn't reserved for your captain. You each bear your own share of responsibility."

I heard metal shifting, and I looked over at Zoro, surprised to see that he was sheathing his swords and moving one of them to his opposite hip. What sort of attack was he going to try to do?

"Hey, Zoro, wait!" Usopp cried. "Don't be so damn reckless! Aren't your bones crumbling apart?!"

"Eh??" I looked at Usopp in surprise at such a statement.

"When the world shoves you around, you've just gotta stand up and shove back," Zoro responded, still not taking his eyes off Kuma. "It isn't like you can do anything just by giving excuses. If I die, then I am just a man who can only make it this far."

Zoro started moving, getting into more of a crouching position that made it look like he was prepared to dash forward.

"Two Swords Style, Draw! Rashomon!"

There was a sudden explosion of light...as Kuma disappeared and seemingly replaced himself with a gigantic rock that was abruptly sheared in half.

I stiffened up when I heard the noise, but I didn't jump backwards. To be honest, I was more shocked that Kuma had managed to evade that than anything else.

And then I saw where Kuma had gone.

I sucked a breath in through my gritted teeth when I saw that Kuma was now standing over Zoro...with one hand directly above the swordsman and the other one poised and ready to slam down.

I was about to yell at Zoro to get out of there when he looked up and suddenly went spinning away from Kuma as the Tyrant's ready hand came slamming down into the rubble.

I could barely hear Zoro over the sound of breaking stone. "Crap, this guy's fast!"

Kuma turned sharply, bringing a hand around and firing _something_ over in Zoro's direction. It was moving so quickly that I could only see that it looked like a bubble of some kind.

Zoro barely moved out of the way in time, bending to the side just as the bubble would have slammed into his head. I heard what sounded like three bubbles popping before there was an explosion against part of the mansion that was still standing. As it was, _something_ caused the swordsman to be sent flying with a cry of pain.

I blinked, then frowned when I noticed something about the rubble that had been directly behind Zoro. "Are those...paw prints?"

"Huh?" Nami followed my gaze before frowning.

"You see?! Kuma didn't even touch him and his breathing's all ragged!" Usopp pointed over at Zoro, causing Nami and I to look over in the swordsman's direction. I think the two of us paled at once when we saw Zoro gripping his head with one hand, his body heaving with every breath he was taking.

"What's with that guy's ability?!" Nami demanded. "And what about those marks that he left in the rubble?!"

It took me a moment, but I caught sight of something on one of Kuma's hands. It seems the Rolling Pirates saw it, too.

"Look! On his palm!" I think it was one of the Risky Brothers who ended up calling out.

"P-paw pads?!" another pirate exclaimed.

"Why are they on the hands of a human?" a third asked.

I swallowed when I saw the large pink, bubble-like pads on Kuma's hand. They matched with the mark that had been left in the rubble....

"What kind of Devil Fruit gave him paw pads and gave him the ability to do _that?_ " I looked over at the marks in the rubble before swallowing.

Kuma paused for a moment, then lowered his hand and looked over at Zoro, who was starting to recover slightly from the attack that he had barely managed to dodge earlier.

"36 Caliber Phoenix!" Zoro through the air slash at Kuma. I found it weird that he was only using one of his swords and not all of them in order to do this particular attack...but then I was glad that he only did it with one.

Because Kuma raised one of his paw padded hands...and the attack bounced off and was sent careening towards a group of Rolling Pirates near us. The explosion that resulted caused me to flinch in alarm.

"Zoro's attack was deflected by his hand!" Chopper identified. "Is that even possible?!"

"Well, he just did it, so it looks like it is," I responded nervously.

Zoro rose to his feet. "I think I just figured out what your ability is...."

"It almost looks like a Protect technique was attached to his hands somehow," I muttered, thinking of my Pokemon lore. Then another thought came to mind -- and I felt that it was somehow related to the Heartless and Dream Eater creatures. "Or, would it be Protego...?"

"I possess the power to deflect anything I wish," Kuma said. "That is the power of the Paw Paw Fruit. I am a Paw man."

"P-paw man?" Sanji repeated, looking a little lost for words.

"How can he say that with a straight face?" Usopp demanded. "That's got to be the most ridiculous Devil Fruit I've ever heard of!"

"I don't know much about these Warlords," Franky remarked. "But if this guy's power is kitten hands, what is there that we have to worry about?"

"Uh...." I quickly thought back through all the times that I had underestimated Pokemon that looked cute and adorable and were being used by Trainers that were younger than I was. "I wouldn't be so quick about that, if I were you! Sometimes, the weakest moves can turn out to be the most powerful."

Before I had even finished saying anything, Kuma turned quickly and shot something out of his paw pad in Franky's direction. The cyborg was sent flying into a wall behind us with an explosion of noise...and a paw print embedded in his chest.

"Franky!" Chopper and I exclaimed in alarm. We dashed over to where our shipwright lay on the ground twitching.

"I'm disappointed, Cyborg Franky, if that is the extent of your strength," Kuma spoke in the same tone that he had been speaking in before, but I couldn't help but wonder if he was _mocking_ our downed crewmember. "You should keep your mouth shut."

Chopper planted his hooves on the paw-shaped indent in Franky's chest and started to shake the cyborg back and forth. "Franky! Are you still breathing?! Breathe! Franky!"

"Please be okay, please be okay," I chanted, crossing my fingers.

Franky coughed and started wheezing for air. My eyes trailed to the paw-shaped dent in his chest, and I couldn't help but worry that, considering that his front half is made of metal, that the dent was hindering his ability to breathe properly.

"We're in trouble now -- he hit Franky head-on and blew him away!" Usopp yelped.

"What kind of move _was_ that?!" Nami asked.

"It's just a theory, but perhaps he's deflecting the air itself," Robin said in a worried tone. "A normal physical attack wouldn't have affected Franky like that." Robin said in a worried tone.

"Deflecting the air?" I repeated, looking over at the archeologist. "I've heard of abilities that can deflect attacks, but never air. I didn't think that was possible."

"I call it the Pad Cannon," Kuma responded. "I simply deflect air pressure at light speed, and it creates a shock wave that can pierce through anything."

"Repel it at light speed...?" I swallowed at that. No wonder the bubbles had moved so quickly.

Something itched at the back of my mind, and the question that ended up surfacing made me uneasy.

_ Why was Kuma telling us this in the middle of a battle? He was told that he had to eliminate us, right? _

The ground shook suddenly, and I was shaken out of my thoughts as I shifted for a more steady stance to keep me from falling over. I saw that Kuma had gotten into a lower stance of some kind, his paw'd hands resting on his knees.

"I don't believe in mercy..."

I didn't like the tone that Kuma's voice had suddenly taken. Obviously, Zoro didn't either, because he made sure that all three swords were out in the next second.

"Thrust Pad Cannon!" Kuma called out, paws pointed at Zoro. His hands then started moving quickly, back and forth, creating a small cloud of paw-shaped bubbles.

"Tourou Nagashi!" Zoro leapt up and moved over and under the bubbles like it was a dangerous obstacle course.

Kuma kept the barrage going until Zoro was close enough to swing his swords at the Tyrant. Unfortunately...the Warlord was kinda ready for it.

Kuma raised his paws in the moments before Zoro could have landed a blow, and I could only see for a moment that Zoro's swords ended up connecting with the pads...before he was sent flying into the rubble.

"Zoro!" Usopp and I cried in alarm as he went rolling and tumbling through the destroyed brickwork.

"He can even repel his swords?!" Chopper exclaimed.

I started to feel panic rise up in my chest. This guy...Kuma...he was too powerful for Zoro to be able to take on!

"There's no use!" a Rolling Pirate exclaimed. "He can't go on!"

"It's a miracle that he's been able to fight up until now!" another agreed.

"You saw the beating he took from Oars! If this guy lays a finger on him, he's done for!"

I bit my lower lip when I saw that Zoro was on his hands and knees, not moving in order to try and go after Kuma.

"Zoro! Look behind you! Run!!" Usopp screamed.

I jumped when I heard Usopp scream, and I saw that Kuma had moved to stand over Zoro from behind...and he was starting to get ready to attack Zoro with those pads of his!

"Zoro!" Chopper, Usopp, and I exclaimed at once.

I started to move forward -- maybe I could do something to help -- but a black blur suddenly rushed past me, causing me to stop short.

"That's as far as you'll get!" Sanji declared, leaving into the air and spinning in order to get momentum for his kicking attack.

There was an echoing _thunk_ noise as Sanji's foot slammed into Kuma's chin, causing the Tyrant to pause his attack on Zoro.

"Concasse!" Sanji declared.

Oh, hey -- I was actually able to hear clearly what it was that he was saying this time!

"Sanji!" Chopper exclaimed in relief.

"He didn't have a chance to deflect his kick!" Usopp cried out. "That guy's skull is gonna be crushed!"

I would have felt as excited as they were -- in fact, I would have yelled something out of encouragement myself -- but then I noticed that there was something up. I mean, Kuma had been able to catch Zoro's swords...why hadn't he moved in order to catch Sanji's attack?

Plus...it looked like smoke was rising from the impact point between Sanji's heel and Kuma's chin.

Zoro started to yell up at Sanji. "Idiot, I said not to butt in--" But then he cut himself off rather abruptly when he saw that something was wrong. My eyes widened in shock, as well.

Sanji fell to the ground, gripping his shin. As soon as he hit the rubble, he started flinching and crying out in pain.

"Sanji!" I cried out in shock. Kuma's skull couldn't be hard enough to actually hurt Sanji's legs...could they?

"I take it you're Black Leg Sanji." Kuma rubbed the spot where Sanji's foot had connected in an almost absent-minded manner. "I expected more from you."

"Sanji's kick didn't even make him flinch...what the hell is this?!" Usopp yelped.

"Why the hell? Is his face made of steel?" Sanji demanded in a pained voice from where he was lying. "That kick should have busted in his skull!"

That particular question sent that cold feeling I'd felt before -- when Kuma had made himself known -- run down my spine. Why was my body reacting like this? Was there something about Kuma that it...that it knew somehow?

Usopp quickly grabbed his slingshot and fired. "Firebird Star!"

I quickly realized what he was doing and decided to help him out with my own abilities. Coating my hands in fire, I willed it to turn into s sphere and sent it flying after Usopp's attack, yelling, "Fire Sphere!"

The two fire attacks attached to each other and became one large bird that went flying at Kuma. Let's see him try to bounce that back!

The Warlord turned. "Sniper King? What a ridiculous name. It's a title you clearly gave to yourself."

And then he...he bounced it right back at us with one of his hands!

Usopp, Chopper -- who was on the sniper's back -- and Nami let out screams of fear. Nami and Chopper ran off before they could possibly be hit, leaving Usopp rooted to the ground in shock.

I jumped in front of him. "Flash Fire!"

The flash of light that came as a result of me absorbing the redirected fire attack seemed to get Kuma's attention. I could hear Usopp whimpering behind me as I summoned my phoenix staff and held it in front of me in a defensive manner.

"Fire Staff Maria," Kuma identified. "An odd ability."

I gritted my teeth, wondering if the Warlord was going to turn his attention fully in my direction, but he looked away. Does that mean he thinks I'm too weak to go against him?

"I knew it'd be pointless!" cried a Rolling Pirate. "They're not hurting him one bit."

"They'll all be done in!" another one added.

Something in my gut wanted them to shut up...but my head was agreeing with them. We needed to get out of here, and get out of here _alive._

"Zoro...Sanji...." Chopper sounded worried.

I didn't turn to look at him, though. My gaze was locked on Kuma. I didn't know if he was going to pull that teleport trick anytime soon...but I knew I didn't want to be caught off-guard if he pulled out one of those cannon tricks again.

Plus, something about him was still unnerving me...it kinda looked like his eyes -- which looked like they were covered by glasses of some kind -- were glowing. Eyes normally don't do that.

"I knew from the start that killing a crew of injured weaklings like you would bring me no joy," Kuma spoke aloud. "Not to mention that it's not a fair fight. But, orders are orders, even if I may not fully agree with them."

Kuma raised his hands above his head, and a loud pulsing noise started to echo in the air.

"Huh...?" I frowned, wondering what it was that Kuma was doing. Thinking that there might be something above him, I looked up...and my eyes widened in shock.

"What the hell is he doing?" Franky asked. I turned to look back at the cyborg and felt a little relieved when I saw that he had managed to get up into a kneeling position. He sounded a little pained, though, so that paw-print dent in his chest was probably still causing him some problems.

"Is that air?" Nami frowned. "And it looks like a giant bubble shaped like a paw."

I frowned, hearing the pulsing in the air and watching the bubble above Kuma's head. "Something about this doesn't feel right...."

"He's making it smaller...." Chopper sounded really nervous. I don't blame him. There was something about what Kuma was doing that didn't sit too well with me.

Nami let out a gasp. "I think I know what he's doing. He's using his power to deflect a giant air mass, but he's compressing it into a tiny ball!"

"The real attack will come as soon as he's released all of that compressed pressure...." Robin continued. "That much air...it will send out an enormous shockwave...."

Ah! My eyes widened in realization. "He's making a bomb out of the air!"

Already, the bubble was small enough that Kuma could have easily treated it as a gigantic pillow...and he was _still_ shrinking it!

"Wh-what did you say?!" Chopper gasped.

"Bomb...." Usopp gulped. "You mean he's gonna release that and blow us up?!"

"A boooooomb?" Brook's jaw dropped.

"What else would he be doing with that?!" I motioned wildly to Kuma, who had now made the air bubble so small that he was able to hide the bubble in his hands -- all I could see was what looked like a bright light coming from inside.

The pulsing noise suddenly stopped, leaving the rubble-filled area with an eerie quiet that left me feeling unnerved. I'm sure that everyone was waiting on pins and needles for that thing to go off. I know I was.

Kuma turned slightly, his gaze seeming to go over us without him turning his head or visibly moving his eyes inside their sockets. After a moment, he spoke.

"I've thought it over and I've made a decision. I will spare your lives....."

The Rolling Pirates let out sighs of relief. I didn't. The way Kuma was speaking, there had to be a catch involved.

"But on one condition. In exchange, you give me the head of Straw Hat Luffy."

And there's the -- _wait, what?!_

_ What did Kuma just say his condition was?! _

My gaze shot over to where Luffy was lying, still knocked out after his fight against Moria to get all our shadows back. Kuma, one of the Seven Warlords, was asking for _our captain's head?!_

"If I return with his head, that should be enough to satisfy the government," Kuma explained.

He...he was asking us....

I tightened my grip on my staff and gritted my teeth in anger. Flames -- small ones -- started to come to life on my shoulders, as though itching to burn a piece of the Warlord.

"We won't betray our own captain," Usopp growled.

Sanji rose to his feet while a dark, angered air seemed to gather over all of us.

"Come, bring Straw Hat to me," Kuma said, as though he wasn't noticing the emotionally charged atmosphere at all.

"NO WAY!! WE REFUSE!!!" we all yelled back at him -- screamed, really. I'm pretty sure that I was louder here than I was back when we were looking for Zoro and Luffy in Enies Lobby.

There was no sound for a moment -- except for the sound of wind, but that was about it.

"That's a shame," Kuma said. He started to slowly shift his hands -- carefully, as though he was handling some kind of fragile package. I could practically feel the tension in the air as the Rolling Pirates started to shift back nervously.

And then Kuma opened his hands and released a small, white glowing ball at us. It was small enough that I could hardly tell that it was meant to be shaped like his paws at all.

But...if the air had been compressed that tightly...

The bubble started to expand, slowly at first. I gripped my staff and prepared for the worst as the paw started to expand outward at a faster and faster rate.

I barely heard Kuma's "Ursa Shock!" before the shockwave hit us.

I tried to put up a shield of fire in order to ward off the attack, but it wasn't enough. In fact, it did absolutely nothing.

The last thing I was aware of was an explosion of light as I was blasted backwards....

Something hit me in the back. Hard. And everything went dark.


	23. Aftermath

**Maria's POV**

**Memory Break**

_I'm floating in what appears to be blue nothingness. It looks like water, but it can't really be -- I don't feel wet._

_"Hmm...it's strange, that one so young has been given this much power."_

_I wanted to turn my head -- to find the voice that's speaking -- but I can't seem to move very well. I don't really want to, either, for some reason._

_"Children are not given abilities like these until they have traveled first for five of their world's years, at the very least. Why is it that she has been granted this ability so early in her career?"_

_"Perhaps times are changing, Yobmok. It seems that, as the years go by, events take more and more of a toll on those who may be travelers -- such as these children."_

_"That may be so...but it seems that this particular child -- with this particular gift -- has a different kind of role to play."_

_Something shifts around me...almost as though I am in a comforting embrace. Something whispers in my ear, "Do not be afraid."_

_Any nervousness I might have had fades away into a dull warmth that kind of feels like contentment. What kind of power is this, to make me feel so relaxed?_

_"What do you see of them, Yobmok?"_

_"Two will have their trials ending soon...this one...they have only just begun. I am unable to forsee when they will end, but I know that it will be a long, hard journey for her to undertake. Let us ensure that she will be able to survive until the end of that journey."_

**Memory Break**

I opened my eyes with a groan I couldn't hear. Everything hurt. Badly. I couldn't move my arms, my legs...something had driven me to wake up.

But what?

I lifted my head, wincing when my neck protested against it. Everything around me was hazy...almost as though it was coming out of some kind of dream...did I hit my head?

I saw what looked like a large, black monster, someone wearing green, white, and black, and a large, red-tinted something before my vision went black again.

**Memory Break -- 3rd POV**

_"Not good," Maria muttered as she glared at the blimp. She started for it as Milo fell past the propeller blades, holding onto a part of the railing. Luckily, the linguist wasn't hurt._

_"Congratulations, you just won the solid gold Cupie doll," came Rourke's sarcastic voice as Maria flew in close._

_Milo grabbed at the chains that were above Kida's prison, high enough above where Lea was working that he didn't end up getting burned. Rourke started to follow after him, now armed with an axe._

_"You know how many times I wanted to go after your grandfather to get this whole thing moved along, Thatch?" Rourke asked as he waved the axe about. He attempted to hit Milo with it, but Lea's hand shot up with a blast of fire that forced the axe away from Milo. It slammed into the window on Kida's prison on the way down, but it didn't stay stuck there._

_"Leave him alone," Lea growled. Maria was pretty much below them, now, right in front of the broken window. "You're the one in the fire, not him."_

_"Like I want anything to do with that religious nonsense," Rourke scoffed._

_"It's NOT nonsense!" Maria barked._

_"And I'm not talking religiously, either," Lea snarled. He removed his hands from the chains and lashed out at Rourke, who dodged the fire-cloaked punch almost a moment too late. "Because I'm ready to give you a burning you'll never forget!"_

_Milo ducked as one of Rourke's arms moved over his head. The linguist nearly stumbled off the container, but he managed to catch hold of one of the chains Lea hadn't gotten to yet. He glanced down as Lea started to get ready to lash out at Rourke again, and Milo reached down and grabbed something._

_A moment later, a glowing piece of glass carved a slit into Rourke's arm._

_Maria, catching sight of this, saw a vision:_ a glowing blue statue - propellers -

_She abruptly grabbed Lea from behind and pulled him into his transport; Milo followed right as Rourke's form started to change._

_Gone was the more human look - Rourke turned blue, with glowing orange veins working their way through his now crystalline form. Glowing orange eyes stared at the group, and the monster let out a shriek that grated against Maria's ears._

_However, the transformation didn't stop here. Rourke began to grow, causing the blimp to suddenly drop._

_Maria's eyes widened. "That didn't happen before."_

_"Well, what are we going to do, then?" Lea demanded from his transport. "We can't just let that monster do what he wants! And we can't get the princess back while he's around!"_

_"Don't you think I know that?" Maria snapped in reply._

_At the back of her mind, something started to encourage her to unleash an attack on the crystalline monster, but she didn't know anything that would have been strong enough for that._

_That is, until she suddenly felt her temperature spike, and a voice that didn't sound like anyone she knew reverberated through her skull._

            *All you need is a little push*

_Maria looked down at her hands, only for her eyes to widen in alarm when she saw the white, fiery sparks coming off her hands._

_"Maria?" Lea asked. "What -"_

_Maria clenched her hands and looked up at the monster that had been Rourke. She knew that she had to release her power, but she wasn't sure as to what would happen when she did._

_"Stay back," Maria warned._

_She shut her eyes and forced the power out. Maria let out a yell as she felt power explode out of her in all directions. A moment later, she concentrated on taking out the crystalline monster she could hear roaring on the blimp. Almost an instant later, loud explosions followed as Maria heard yells of alarm._

_Only a moment later did she realize that there was something that was draining her of her energy._

_Almost instinctively, she cut the power to whatever the attack had been and she opened her eyes. At the same time, Maria fell back from her standing position and into the seat of the transport, panting heavily._

_Rourke and the blimp were pretty much gone, with Kida's prison lying on the bottom of the volcano._

_A moment later, there was a low rumble as the rock around then shook._

_"The volcano!" Mole wailed. "She wakes!"_

_"We've got to get out of here now!" Riku called out. Glancing over at Maria and seeing that she looked completely and utterly exhausted, he continued, "Milo - get control of Maria's ship and get her and Helga out of here."_

_"But what about -"_

_"We'll worry about Kida," Lea finished in a determined voice. "Go."_

_Even in Maria's tired state, she could tell that the look on Lea's face and the tone in his voice was not one that someone would feel like ignoring._

_Milo looked reluctant, but then nodded as Lea brought his transport over next to Maria's. He climbed on - not without sending a glare in Helga's direction - then turned the dolphin and started out of there as fast as the transport could handle. Behind and around them, the other fish were zooming out as fast as they could go._

_In seconds, they were out of the tunnel and landing in the main square of Atlantis._

_As Maria got to her feet, she felt a wave of dizziness overtake her, and she had to lean against Milo for support. At the same time, Lea and Riku came in on their transports, toting Kida's container hanging between them on what remained of the chains._

_"So, how are we going to open this?" Audrey asked as the pair landed. "And no, we are not going to use your saw!"_

_She glared at Sweet, who raised his hands in defense as he backed away a step._

_"We got this," Lea stated boldly as he and Riku summoned their Keyblades with a bright flash. The two teenagers promptly pointed their weapons at the capsule's door, white lasers shooting off the business end of the keys._

_There was an audible click, and the metal door swung open, only to be completely knocked off its hinges as the rest of the capsule was torn apart at the seams, revealing the crystallized Kida. Slowly, the parts of the capsule started to rotate around her as the carvings in the stone below them started to glow with the same energy as wheat was in the crystals that hung from the necks of the Atlanteans._

_Maria took a cautionary step back, watching as cracks started to appear in the ground. "Uh, guys? I think we'd better move."_

_She pulled Milo back with her limping gait, Lea and Riku mimicking the movements as the cracked ground started to be pushed up._

_With a low rumble, the ground suddenly exploded upward, releasing the carved faces that had been trapped below the throne room not so long ago. They rose into the air, circling Kida as she rose with them. The circling started to pick up speed, turning Kida into a glowing, bright blue sphere. Beams of light shot out at perfect intervals towards the edge of the plateau._

_There were reactions around the edge of the plateau immediately. Even from where Maria stood - now able to stand without help from Milo - she could see the stone statues that were standing on the edge of the plateau moving. A blue, water-like force field followed just as quickly, spreading across the top of the plateau, then up towards the Crystal._

_Maria's eyes sparkled with amazement as the lava rolled over the energy shield like it was the rocky sides of the volcano. The teen mentally predicted that, somewhere above them, people on ships were watching lava boil up at the ocean's surface with great confusion._

_As the lava hardened with the unusual quickness that Maria now remembered seeing in the movie, everything went dark except for the pale light of the Atlantan crystal shards and the great, spinning sphere above them. About a minute later, Atlantan symbols began to appear in the obsidian rock, each one glowing a bright green._

_Maria then noticed that, oddly enough, all the Atlantean crystals were glowing the same color, and that the Atlanteans themselves seemed to be calm and collected, and not running screaming like people on the surface might have._

_The teen also couldn't help but feel calm, as well, and wondered if the shade of green meant that they were safe from harm._

_"That thing is pretty powerful," Lea noted, looking up at the Crystal above their heads. "If anyone gets on it's bad side, they're dead."_

_"Rourke did, remember?" Maria responded. "Giant crystal statue?"_

_"About that." Riku turned to look at Maria and Lea. "You never told me you had that much power in you. Lea, were you working with her on that?"_

_Lea shook his head. "That was just as much of a shock for me."_

_"Are you talking about the energy I released?" Maria asked, looking between the two with a curious look. She gained a sheepish expression. "I wasn't exactly watching when I released it."_

_"Well, white-hot fire went just about everywhere," Lea remarked. "It took out what was left of the Dream Eaters, then caused the blimp to explode."_

_"How did you know you could cause your power to flare out like that?" Riku asked, frowning._

_Maria shrugged helplessly. "I didn't. I just felt a sudden build-up of power and I needed to release it." She frowned. "Maybe it was instinct - I dunno."_

_"Yeah, well, that White Flare of yours should be put under more control so that you don't nearly kill yourself like you did back there," Lea remarked._

_As the obsidian-shield around them started to crumble and fall into the ravine that was beyond the edge of the plateau, Maria gave a slight nod. "Yeah. That would probably be a good idea. I wouldn't want to be pushed to the limit or anything."_

_When the watery shield above them had finally disappeared from sight, Milo took a few steps forward, careful to avoid the giant gaping hole that now resided in the center of the marketplace. His eyes remained on the Crystal and the single beam of light that now came down from it...._

**Memory Break**

_"Resistance is futile," a bald man called up from below, sounding somewhat robotic. Maria could see him aiming what looked like a purple and green bazooka at her from out of the corner of her eye. The teenager, not liking the sight of it, stiffened up as she tried to get as much energy as she could prepped for an attack with volcanic proportions._

*Maria!* _a voice called out in warning._ *If you do this, you'll end up under their control anyway!*

_"I could end up something else, too," Maria muttered under her breath in response. "I'm not about to let him have me and what powers I have."_

_Inferno didn't say anything to that -- she didn't have the time to. Because Maria took the initiative and blasted all of the gathered energy out of her in one shockwave of heat and fire._

_"White Flare: 125 percent!" Maria screamed. "Overheat!"_

_The resulting blast of fire clung to Maria's bonds in molten chunks, melting the mechanical arms that were holding her in the air. The blast of heat that came out from Maria also caused the bald man to stumble back, dropping the bazooka that had been in his hands._

_However, a blast of that magnitude from Maria was extremely draining. The teenager fell to the floor of the lab, letting out a pained yell as she hit the concrete floor._

Warning: Ene--- re---v-- low. R-ch---- requ----- Sta--- lock im-----.

*That was quite the show* _the voice commented dryly,_ *But now you can't move, and Mega-Brainiac is at your helm. What are you going to do now?*

_Maria let out a groan in response. Her head was aching and felt like it was being stepped on, and her body was waaay too heavy for her to be able to move._

_"Intriguing,"_ _a raspy voice noted from above Maria. It sounded like there were two people speaking at the same time. "For a R------to have abilities similar to that of superhumans, and with this level of power, is unprecedented. I will be sure to study this much more closely."_

_Maria lifted her head from the ground weakly and looked up tiredly at the large, silver hand that was coming down towards her. Her vision flickered in and out, static running across her vision, making it look like Maria was looking at a malfunctioning TV._

_The hand had nearly reached Maria when what seemed like a muffled yell to the teenager came through the air._

_The hand paused mere inches from Maria's body. Maria blinked up at it for a moment before letting her head collapse back on the ground, energy drained from just lifting up her head._

_"Megatron, stop where you are!" came a muted rumble._

**Memory Break -- Maria's POV**

When I woke up, it felt like something warm had been dropped on my chest. Warn, soothing, and strangely ticklish.

I cracked an eye open and was instantly met with the sight of a decently sized torch sitting on top of my chest.

"Flash Fire," I croaked out. The torch was instantly snuffed, and I felt some of my strength come back. Any aches that I was feeling faded slightly, allowing me to shift up into a sitting position.

I let out a hiss from between my teeth as a particularly painful twinge came from my back. "Okay, definitely going to need more fire than that if I'm going to completely heal myself...."

"Ah! Maria, you're okay!" Chopper made his way over to me, climbing over the rubble with some difficulty. "I was starting to get worried when you didn't absorb that fire!"

I let out a nervous chuckle. "I think I have to be awake in order to absorb anything, Chopper." I winced as my back gave my another twinge. "I think I'm gonna need a little more, though...it felt like I hit something really hard."

It took me a moment to remember what exactly had happened before that, and I started to look around. "Where's--"

"Kuma's gone." Chopper looked relieved. "He probably just left after the explosion went off."

"What in heck's going on with you?!" Franky's voice echoed across the rubble-filled courtyard, and I turned my head in surprise upon hearing it so close to us.

My eyes widened in shock when I saw _Luffy dancing around_ and looking the happiest I'd seen him since he'd decided that he wanted to go ghost hunting on Thriller Bark.

"Hey, check it out! My body feels great! What happened?"

I looked over at Chopper. "Did you do something?"

Chopper shook his head in bewilderment.

"Liar!" Usopp accused from where he was sitting. "There's no way!"

"Did he take so much damage that it cancelled the pain and gave him a high?" Robin asked thoughtfully.

"No way," Franky disagreed from where he sat nearby. "That definitely can't happen!"

"I agree with Franky on this one," I agreed. "Pain does _not_ give one a high." I flinched when my back sent another wave of pain up my spine. "Being numb, though, _that_ would make you feel invincible, which I guess _could_ be considered a high."

I waited for a moment, expecting two specific someones to say something about our idiot captain, but there was nothing. I looked around somewhat nervously. "Where are Zoro and--" I let out a gasp. "Sanji!"

The others turned their heads, and Chopper let out a squeal of concern when he saw our cook lying on a piece of rubble, his suit torn on one of his arms and one of his legs. The thought that he should have spare suits was pushed to the back of my mind when Sanji got up with what looked like a panicked expression before looking around.

"Sanji, are you all right?" Chopper asked. I started to get to my feet, and followed after the reindeer, hunching over like some old lady. Since I felt unsteady on my feet, I brought out my phoenix staff and leaned on that as we made our way over to the cook.

Sanji, oddly enough, completely ignored us and instead scrambled across the former battlefield until he reached something that made him stop short for a moment before he took off running.

"Sanji, wait up!" I called after the cook. "What's wrong?"

"You shouldn't be running around with a possibly broken leg!" Chopper added, keeping in step with me.

And then we found what it was that Sanji had stopped in front of.

I nearly tripped when I forced myself to stop. "What the...why are Zoro's swords lying here?"

Chopper frowned. "I don't know, but the reason probably isn't good. Zoro never parts with his swords. Ever." He looked up in the direction that Sanji had gone and started moving after him, and I stayed a few steps behind him.

It didn't take too long for Sanji to start running back at us, a panicked look on his face.

"What's going on?" I asked, concerned.

"I-it's Zoro," Sanji responded. He pointed back the way that he had disappeared to -- and the direction he had just come running from. "Chopper, you need to treat him _now._ "

I was set off by the concern that was in Sanji's voice. I didn't think that the cook could be concerned for the swordsman, since they were fighting practically all the time.

"Ehh?" Chopper's eyes widened. "What happened?!"

Sanji hesitated for a moment. "I don't know. But the ground's absolutely soaked with his blood."

My eyes widened in shock. "It's _what?!"_

"Take me to him!" Chopper ordered. "And hurry!"


	24. Sanji's Awesome Cooking Strikes Again! KAMPEI!

**Maria's POV**

"I can't believe everyone passed out in the courtyard and slept for a whole day," Usopp commented.

"Are you surprised? We did fight for a solid 24 hours," Franky responded, hefting a large sack up above his head.

"Makes sense to me," I commented, nodding.

After we had woken up in the courtyard and had our injuries treated, we ended up splitting into two groups: most of us Straw Hats went to the _Sunny_ for a quick change of clothes and food, while Chopper stayed with Zoro to make sure that he was all right.

Seeing our doctor in Heavy Point carrying our swordsman -- covered in _his own blood_ \-- into the courtyard was enough of a sight to make me wonder if he was dead. However, Chopper confirmed that he was alive -- if only barely -- and he needed medical treatment fast.

I was really worried, though...how was it that Zoro ended up getting horribly hurt like that? Was it a result of the bomb? The rest of us hadn't been harmed _that_ badly....

"I'm starving to death, Sanji!" Luffy yelled.

And then there was the no-exhaustion-even-after-all-the-battles-Luffy.

"Then eat some more cheese!" Sanji yelled back from the upper deck of the _Sunny_.

"It's not enough energy for me!" Luffy complained with his mouth full. "I can't live on cheese alone!"

"Then get your ass in gear and bring the cooking ingredients to the courtyard!" Sanji snapped. "Our grateful survivors don't want to budge from that place, so we'll make the meal there."

"Hope you don't mind. We haven't felt the sun on our skin in years, so we're trying to soak it up." Lola sounded a little sheepish as she stood on our ship's lawn. "My men are so relieved, they're weeping with joy."

"Yeah -- you guys were hiding in the darkness for years, weren't you?" I asked from where I was standing next to Usopp. I was feeling much better now that I had Flash Fire'd a good number of torches. I wasn't as full of energy as some people, though.

"How the hell are you so energetic?" Usopp asked, frowning at Luffy as he swallowed a large chunk of cheese. "This is definitely wrong! You're weird!" He folded his arms across his brown overalls and frowned at our captain as Luffy took a piece of cheese that was probably as big as himself and managed to get it into his mouth in one piece.

I hummed a bit, frowning. "And you're not going to make any comment about how I don't have any actual wounds or anything? Chopper was freaking out about that earlier before I managed to get all those torches."

Usopp sent me a look, scowling. "Well, you're already weird, so the fact that you don't need to be wrapped up like a mummy doesn't really add to that all that much!"

I scowled back at him, but then Nami let out a contented sigh from somewhere behind us, and I turned my head to look over in the navigator's direction.

"Are you certain that you've got enough food?" Lola asked from where she stood.

"Seems there was a lot of food added to our stock along with the food that was stolen from us, so we're fine," Sanji responded from the upper deck. He'd actually decided to go with a blue hoodie and black pants rather than a suit, which I thought was a little strange for him but probably not too far out there.

"I wonder who did it...." Lola frowned, then her expression brightened. "Well, whoever they are, they've got a kind heart. They even stashed all this treasure here. Even if it were Christmas, this would _still_ be too much!"

I snorted at that. "For Christmas, you can _never_ get too much."

Still...we did have a lot of treasure now -- and Nami was obviously enjoying that a lot, since she was lying in the pile of treasure like it was a gigantic nest of pillows and blankets.

"I'm in heaven," Nami murmured.

"Oh, hey -- this glass band is cool!" Luffy grabbed something off the pile of treasure, getting my attention. It looked like some kind of black band with two clear blue, circular gems put right next to each other. He slipped it onto his right arm, and I was surprised to see that he could push it up past his elbow. "This is pretty cool! I'm gonna keep this!"

Usopp turned and looked up from where he was been sorting through and inspecting the treasure. "H-hey, you can't go and take that...r-right, Nami?"

Nami looked up and looked at the bracelet that Luffy had grabbed. "It's fine -- those aren't even real jewels."

My eyebrows shot up when I heard that. Apparently, Usopp was just as surprised.

"That is not what I expected you to say," Usopp remarked. He started to sort through the pile again, looking around with an expression that clearly said he was looking for something now, too.

I wandered over to have a closer look at the pile of treasure, but I didn't grab anything. I was pretty much content with what I already had, and I didn't want to anger Nami too much by wanting something that was actually pretty valuable.

"But I won't give you even the smallest piece." Nami frowned at Lola.

"We would never think of plundering treasure from the ship of our saviors, Namizou," Lola responded.

"Huh?" I looked over at Lola, blinking, while Nami looked mildly surprised.

"Hey, this is a pretty cool knife!" Usopp held up a knife with a jagged blade and a jeweled hilt, grinning widely.

"What did you say just now?" Nami asked. I noticed that she wasn't even looking in Usopp's direction.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Usopp exclaimed, probably thinking that she was talking about him. "I didn't notice all the gemstones in it...."

"Those words just escaped me," Lola replied, sounding confused herself. "Who is Namizou, anyway? I have this weird feeling.... It's like this isn't the first time that we've met."

"How's that possible?" I responded, looking over at the Rolling Pirates captain.

Nami cautious got off the pile of treasure, frowning. Then a look of realization came over her face. "Could you be...Lola?!"

"Huh? You didn't know that already?" I blinked a couple times at Nami's exclamation.

"That's right," Lola replied. "But...I don't recall telling you my name."

Nami got a wide smile on her face, and she ran forward and hugged Lola. "It really is you, Lola! I'm so happy we can meet again!"

I frowned. "Uh...Nami, is there something you know that the rest of us don't? Because I'm horribly confused right now."

"Lola?" Usopp repeated. Then a panicked expression crossed his face. "Whoa! You mean that fat pig zombie Lola?!"

"Pig zombie?" I looked over at Usopp curiously.

The sniper looked over at me and nodded. "Yeah. We were chased all over this garden area by a giant pig wearing a wedding dress...Nami pretended she was a guy crossdresser in order to keep Lola from killing us."

I felt a little unnerved at that. "Uh...why?"

"Because she was in love with the guy who wanted to marry Nami," Usopp responded in a rush. He sent a nervous glance in Sanji's direction, but it didn't look like the cook had noticed what he had said.

"Uh...a zombie wanting to marry a human?" I felt a little sick. "That's...." I shuddered.

"Yeah," Usopp agreed.

Nami giggled and looked up at Lola. "I know you don't get it, but I'll explain it to you later. For now...." She turned and picked up some of the treasure from the pile and handed it over to Lola -- much to Usopp's surprise. "Take this. It's yours."

"Ehh?!" Lola's eyes widened in shock. "W-wait -- for me? Are you sure?"

Usopp and Luffy ran across the deck to the Thriller Bark entrance. "NAMI GAVE AWAY SOME OF HER TREASURE!! GAAAAH!"

"I'm heading off!" Franky called up from the edge of the ship. "Is this all we need?"

I remembered the giant sack of food that he had managed to carry off.

"A STORM MUST BE COMING!!" Usopp and Luffy continued to wail.

I shook my head at the both of them, folding my arms across my chest.

"Idiots!" Nami barked at them. "I can give my treasure away if I want to!"

"I don't doubt it," I responded. "Maybe they haven't seen you do that before."

Nami smirked in response to that. "Yeah, that's true."

I chuckled, but then I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. A purple sparkle that seemed to be making a light of its own -- not reflecting the sunlight.

Curious, I walked over to the treasure pile and looked it over before catching sight of what it was I was looking for, stuffed into the top of one of the bags of Beris -- specifically, the one that Nami had been using as a pillow a moment ago.

"What the...." I tugged on the leather cord and pulled out what looked like a purple crystal prism with clay covering one end -- specifically, the one that was connected to the leather cord. As soon as I saw the symbol that was engraved into the clay, I froze.

It looked like some kind of eye-shape, spiraling in on itself, with a dot in the center.

"Atlantis," I murmured. I tossed the purple crystal up in the air for a moment before grasping the crystal itself in my bare hand. I got a violent flash of _something_ at that exact moment: a teenage girl with purple eyes and black hair with purple streaks. There was definitely something about her that was familiar....

I looked down at the crystal in bewilderment before I turned and looked at Nami, who was watching me with a strange expression on her face. "Hey, Nami? You mind if I take this?"

"What is it?" Nami came over and looked at the purple crystal that I had picked up.

"This crystal...I think it belongs to someone that I know. Someone...someone that I was looking for before...." I frowned at the purple crystal before looking over at Nami. "And I think this needs to get back to her."

Nami blinked a couple times when she heard that. "You mean that belongs to a friend of yours?"

I nodded.

"Well...all right -- but just that, got it?"

"I got it." I moved away from the treasure pile and put the purple crystal in my pocket before I started off the ship and after the others. I picked up a sack of food by the stairs and stepped down onto the docks before following after the others.

**Time Break**

"Heeey!" Luffy called out from underneath his giant sack. "Sure hope you guys are hungry!"

I grinned when I saw the Rolling Pirates start to get up from the rubble, delighted expressions on their faces when they saw us coming.

"Straw Hat!" one of the pirates called. "You should have asked us to help you!"

"Is Zoro awake yet?" Luffy asked, stopping before the ground turned into a rubbly mine field for tripping.

"He's still fast asleep in the mansion," one of the pirates replied, motioning to an opened section of the mansion.

"Got it! Thanks!" Luffy started for for the opening in the wall of one of the mansion's towers that was still standing.

I moved across the rubble-covered courtyard after our captain, watching where I stepped. I found it weird that I didn't feel the crystal digging into me every time I had to get up onto a higher level of rubble.

I stopped when we reached the hole in the wall and dug my hand in my pocket just to make sure that it was still there and found that it was still there -- the cool, smooth crystal, the clay, the leather...

So why was it that it didn't look like I had anything in my pocket?

"Hey, Chopper!" Luffy called, stepping through the hole.

"We got everything you asked for, bundled up here," Franky said as the rest of us followed.

Chopper looked up and and over at us. I didn't look at the reindeer, but instead at Zoro. He looked a lot better, now that he had been cleaned up, but there were bandages wrapped around his head, chest, and ankles. I think Chopper might have taken off our swordsman's pants in order to be able to get Zoro bandaged fully, because his feet weren't stuck in his black boots.

"Oh, that's great," Chopper responded. "Thanks."

"How's Zoro doing?" Luffy asked. Since he was moving so slowly because of the bundle on his head, the rest of us filed in around him. I moved over to where Zoro was lying on a bed that had been moved, dropping my bundle at the foot of the bed.

"I've never seen him in such terrible condition before," Chopper said worriedly. "His life was really in danger. I'm sure something happened when we were all knocked out. He was injured before, but not like this."

I hummed nervously when I heard that. A hazy something drifted into my mind -- black, red, green, white...it didn't look quite right.

"It is strange," Robin agreed, coming over. Usopp trailed behind her. "And it's even stranger that Kuma would just up and leave."

"And speaking of strange stuff, why's Luffy so energetic?" Usopp added, frowning.

"Yeah, I don't get it, either," Luffy commented in response. "But it's fine with me!"

"Just what happened, ya mean?"

I looked over when I heard one of the voices of the Risky Brothers.

"The truth is..."

"We saw the entire thing!"

I stiffened in shock when I heard the two Rolling Pirates say this, and I looked at the two of them in shock.

"You want us to tell you?" the brown-haired Risky Brother asked.

"What happened then?" the masked Risky Brother added.

"Come here." Sanji walked over and grabbed the two of them by the shoulders before dragging them out into the rubble-filled courtyard.

"Sanji?" Luffy asked, confused.

I frowned. Why was Sanji dragging them outside? I started to follow after them, but Robin planted a hand on my shoulder, stopping me short.

I frowned at the archeologist. "What? Why--"

Robin held a hand to her lips, then put a hand to her ear while glancing outside for a moment. I frowned when I saw her action, and tried to go out again, but then Robin grabbed me again with her free hand and kept me from going anywhere.

I sent her a sour look, but Robin didn't look back in my direction until Sanji came walking back in and made a beeline for the food. I saw the slight smile that came over her face and she lowered her hand from her ear. "I see now."

"See what?" I asked, frowning.

Robin looked down at me with something that looked like an amused or contented expression. "How much do you know of honor, Maria?"

"Honor?" I blinked. "I'd like to think that I know a lot about honor, I guess, but I've got amnesia right now. Why do you ask?"

"It seems that there are some people who are willing to put their lives on the line in order to ensure that their friends won't have to do the same," Robin said, quietly and mysteriously.

Something about what Robin said brought back that hazy memory, and one of the memories that I had recovered during my sleep. A slight frown crossed my face as I started to feel uneasy.

"I...I think that I know what you're talking about," I said slowly.

"Hey, you two."

I looked over at Luffy when I heard his voice, but I saw that he was looking in the direction of the break in the wall. The Risky Brothers were coming back in, looking a little subdued.

"Weren't you about to tell us something?" Luffy asked. "What was it?"

The Risky Brothers exchanged looks before gaining expressions that made them look like they were imitating someone.

"Don't ask a thing," the brown-haired Risky Brother said.

"All that matters is that everyone's all right," added the masked Risky Brother.

And then the two of them turned and walked out without another word.

I blinked. "Well that was weird...."

"Wh-what the heck?" Luffy asked, confused.

Robin chuckled, amused. I shot her a curious look, but she didn't say anything to elaborate.

It didn't take too long for the food to be prepared by Sanji. By the time he was done, I think that all of us were starting to get a little impatient -- I know that Luffy was. He kept trying to bother Sanji as he worked, but the cook kept kicking him back.

Finally, everything was set out. We all grabbed our forks and started digging into the food. I could hear the Rolling Pirates praising Sanji's cooking loudly -- I don't blame them. It felt good to eat after a night and a day without it.

"I put my heart into this!" Sanji called out over the noise. "And there's plenty for everyone! So don't hold back!"

"YOU GOT IT!!" we all called back at the cook, grinning and raising our mugs. I promptly downed mine before going back to the food. The alcohol felt strange going down my throat -- I think that the first time I actually had this stuff was back when we left Water 7 -- but I had a warm feeling in my stomach from it. What little energy I had was starting to slowly rise, and the deliciousness of the food helped. A lot.

"Yohohoho! To indulge in such delicacies again!" I could hear Brook's voice over the clamor of the rest of us. "It's so delicious my taste buds are dancing with joy! Oh, but I don't have taste buds, do I?!"

"Will you just shut up and eat already?!" Franky roared.

I couldn't help but burst out into laughter at that. If my mouth had been full, I probably would have ended up spraying it across the table -- it would have hit Usopp in the face, but still.

"But still, I've been able to eat such good food for two meals in a row, now. I think I've managed to gain some weight!"

"You're just a pile of bones, so shut your trap!"

It felt like I was sitting in the middle of a comedy routine. This time, I _did_ end up getting Usopp in the face with whatever I happened to have in my mouth at that moment.

"Hey!" Usopp sent a glare in my direction. "Watch it! You're nearly as bad as Luffy!"

I stuck my tongue out at the sniper. I could hear the others around us roaring with laughter.

"How does a skeleton talk, anyway?"

"I don't know, but he's hilarious!"

Over all the laughter, I started to hear two voices chanting back and forth, and it took me a bit to find the source of it.

"Oh, dinner!"

"Ow!"

"Dinner!"

"Hey!"

"Dinner!"

"Oh, baby!"

"Dinner!"

"C'mon!"

"Dinner!"

"Suuuuper!"

I threw back my head and laughed as Brook and Franky danced on their table, throwing words back and forth in a sing-song chant that was in-time with their hip-shaking.

"This is fun!" I declared. "Banquets like this are awesome!"

"They haven't even toasted yet, and they've already gone nuts," Chopper commented. I turned my head and looked back at the reindeer and his patient as he continued, "Zoro hasn't woken up, even with all of this noise."

"That's about normal," Nami responded dryly. "I've seen him sleep through typhoons."

My eyebrows knit themselves together as an expression of concern came over my face. What Robin had said -- plus that hazy memory and the clearer one -- kept bugging me at the back of my head somehow.... I still wanted to know what exactly it was that had happened, but at the same time, there was something about all of this that said I probably shouldn't question. After all, considering what I had managed to remember....

"Hey, Chopper! Here!"

_Thud!_

I looked with wide eyes at the large barrel that Luffy had suddenly carried over to Zoro, Nami, and Chopper.

"It's for Zoro!" Luffy shifted his grip on the barrel and got ready to tip it over onto Zoro -- who still hadn't woken up -- except that Nami quickly moved behind him and knocked him in the head.

"Lay off!" Nami yelled.

"What the hell?!" Luffy turned and glared at Nami. "Zoro loves this stuff! It'll make him feel better!"

"What is--" I figured out what it was that Luffy was talking about. "Oh. That's alcohol, isn't it?"

"Eh?" Usopp looked up from his food and caught sight of what it was I was talking about. Then he let out a sigh and shook his head. "Leave it to Luffy to think that booze is going to help...."

"Especially since Zoro's not about to wake up anytime soon, I don't think," I added.

I heard a piano start to play somewhere in the room, and I started to look around. "There's a piano in here? Who's playing?"

"What I'd like to know is how it managed to avoid getting destroyed," Usopp commented.

"Oi, Usopp! Get up here!" Franky yelled across the room. "I need a dance partner up here for this!"

"Dance partner?" Usopp looked over in Franky's direction.

"Yeah! And only the _super_ best will do!"

"All right! Then you're in luck, because I'm the best!" Usopp scrambled away from the table and moved over to Franky's before climbing up on top. Somehow, the two of them managed to avoid stepping on plates as they went into a dance routine that somehow looked practiced.

I smirked and shook my head at the two of them before chuckling. "That looks like fun."

"Maybe you should join in!" Chopper suggested from behind me. He jumped off the table Zoro was lying on, an empty plate in his hooves. "It's fun!"

I looked at the reindeer curiously. "You think so?"

"Well, why not?"

The piano suddenly started to play a more embellished piece -- it sounded a lot more complex than what I had been hearing before -- and most of the noise stopped in the room as a single voice started singing.

_"Yohohoho, yohohoho. Yohohoho, yohohoho."_

"You aren't even taking requests, are you?!" Sanji barked angrily. I wonder what he was so mad about?

Brook kept right on singing. I caught sight of him a moment later, sitting in front of what looked like a small grand piano as he swayed back and forth in time with the music. How he managed to do that and play without making any mistakes, I have no idea.

"Yohohoho, yohohoho. Yohohoho, yohohoho.

 

"Gather up all of the crew; it's time to ship out Binks' brew.

"Sea wind blows -- to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide.

"All across the ocean's tide, rays of sunshine far and wide --

"Birds they sing of cheerful things in circles passing by.

 

"Bid farewell to Reaver's Town, say so long to bored renown.

Sing a song -- it won't be long before we're casting off!

Cross the gold and silver seas, the salty spray puts us at ease

Day and night, to our delight the voyage never ends!"

 

"I like this," I commented, bouncing in time with the music. "It sounds like a fun song."

"It's called 'Binks' Sake', or 'Binks' Brew', depending on the version," Robin explained some her seat at my table. She was a few people down, and had a thoughtful expression on her face. "It's been ages since I heard this song."

"Really?" I looked at Robin in surprise.

"Indeed. It's quite nostalgic. Normally, ship crews sing this as a drinking song, if I recall. It's quite old."

"Wow. A drinking song, huh? I guess that makes sense, since it's called 'Bink's Sake' -- plus, it's so upbeat, I can't imagine it being anything else." I laughed.

I hedged a glance at Zoro, wondering if the swordsman was going to wake up from the singing. He was still out cold, but he seemed to be more at ease in his sleep somehow.

"Hey, Brook! You picked a good one!" Luffy's voice came over the music. "I love this song! Shanks and his crew used to sing it to me!"

"Shanks?" I blinked. "He knew it?"

"So it seems." Robin nodded sagely. "It was a staple for pirate crews to know of it in the days of Gold Roger."

Brook suddenly hit a bad chord on the piano, and I looked over in his direction. I blinked when I saw that the skeleton was staring at Luffy. "I wonder what's going on over there...."

Brook started playing again, but at a slower pace than he had been before. The others around us noticed.

"Hey, skeleton! What's wrong with you? Your tempo's starting to slow down!" one of the pirates called. Others called out, adding noises of affirmative.

Brook didn't seem to notice. He kept starting at Luffy as his tempo continued to slow down...then sped up again....then hit a bad chord again after Usopp and Sanji walked over.

"What's going on over there?" I asked, frowning.

"My guess is that Brook learned that the others met Laboon when they arrived on the Grand Line," Robin commented, amused. "That might be the reason he's reacting in this way."

As if right on cue, Brook started wailing. "I see...so he's doing just fine! I've never been so happy!"

"Wow. Looks like you're right on the money," I commented, looking between Robin and the wailing skeleton.

Robin chuckled. "Indeed. I am usually quite good at reading people, and music has sometimes been considered a gateway to the soul. As Brook has no eyes to act as his gates, his music speaks for him instead."

"Ah. That makes sense." I nodded slightly, and then an interesting thought occurred to me. "Maybe I should try to learn how to read people. Then I would be able to figure out what's going on without asking too many questions."

"It would certainly be a good idea," Robin agreed. "But, for now, it might be a good idea for us to simply enjoy ourselves, right?"

I nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me!"


	25. Binkusu no sake wo!

** Maria's POV **

Brook went back to playing after a while, tears running down his skull and dripping onto the piano keys. I didn't watch him for too long -- I kept my attention on my food and laughing my head off at the others' antics.

"I wonder what kind of dance that is," I commented, pointing at the strange dance that Chopper was attempting. He had stuck a pair of chopsticks up his nose and was doing some kind of scooping motion with a large basket-thing he was holding in his hooves.

"It certainly is a strange dance, isn't it?" Robin agreed, amused. She hadn't really made it a point to move and join in on the dancing that was going on around us, but I could tell that she was enjoying herself just the same. I had eaten my fill of Sanji's food -- even though the cook was constantly dishing out more -- and watching the entertainment was what was taking up most of my attention now.

"You have to wonder where a dance like that ended up originating," Robin continued thoughtfully. "It could have been for a ceremony originally."

I hummed in response, Robin's statement making me think of something. "You know, where Pokemon live, they have a few things that originated from ceremonies. For instance, there are devices that people use to befriend Pokemon -- the most common are called PokeBalls. Originally, they were very hard to come by and were only made for specific people who were part of the royalty -- or people who had proved themselves worthy. After more people found out how they were made, PokeBalls were made more common for everyone to use. Before that, the common people had to find other ways to forge bonds with Pokemon."

"Really? That's certainly interesting. It sounds as though you are as much into history as I am, Maria." Robin gave a slight smile.

I let out an embarrassed chuckle and rubbed the back of my head. "I-it's more of a hobby, really. I think it's interesting to know why specific things happen sometimes -- and it's played a pretty big role in some of the things that I've ended up being a part of."

Brook played what sounded like a couple finishing chords, causing me to look over in his direction. I blinked when I saw that he was lifting his fingers from the piano's keys.

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Franky stopped dancing on the table and turned to look in Brook's direction. "Keep the music going, Brook!"

"You heard him!" Chopper added. "I put chop sticks in my nose for this!"

"Just a moment, please," Brook called back. He took off the bandage that was wrapped around his head and pulled on the top of his afro...making his head open up like it was a box!

"Awesome!" Luffy declared from his perch on the piano.

"I didn't know you could do that!" Sanji and Usopp yelled in shock.

"I don't think a skull is supposed to open up like that," I commented, frowning.

"Perhaps there is more to Brook than meets the eye," Robin suggested.

The last four words the archeologist said sent a strange sensation down my spine. Before I was able to figure out what that meant, though, Brook spoke up from the piano.

"A long time ago, I bought this from a merchant ship," the skeleton explained, setting something on top of the piano. "It's called a 'Tone Dial'. It's an unusual shell that records sounds and allows you to play them back."

"Tone Dial...?" I stood up from where I was sitting so that I could have a better look at the piano. I could see what looked like a curled, white-purple shell.

"Oh, it's from the sky island!" Luffy identified.

"Tone Dials come from sky islands?" I looked over at Robin, who nodded.

"Indeed. The people who live on those islands use them for all sorts of things. You will have to ask Usopp later about all the Dials that the sky islands have -- I believe he has turned into something of an expert at them."

"Dial...." I frowned slightly, trying to pinpoint the word for a second. Then my eyes widened a moment later. "Oh, yeah! I think Usopp used a couple in Water 7! I think he called one a Flash Dial and another one a Breath Dial. So, does that mean that there's more than one kind of Dial?"

I didn't mention that he used them against Luffy -- that's in the past now, and there really wasn't much of a point in bringing that fight up now.

"Indeed, Maria. You should ask Usopp about them later -- I'm sure he would be willing to explain to you how the Dials work."

I heard a clicking noise from the piano, and a moment later, what sounded like a recording of a piano -- not an actual live one -- started to play in the room. It was accompanied by...I want to say at least three stringed instruments.

"Huh?" Lola's voice rose above the now-silenced group of pirates. "I know this song! I can sing along with it!"

There came a cry of agreement from the other Rolling Pirates.

"I wouldn't mind learning the words," I commented in agreement, nodding.

"Well, we had better get ready to sing along then," Robin commented.

About a measure of music later, the song started with a collection of voices from the Tone Dial, and everyone else joined in.

"Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!

Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!

Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!

Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!

"Gather up all of the crew; it's time to ship out Binks' brew.

Sea wind blows -- to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide.

All across the ocean's tide, rays of sunshine far and wide --

Birds they sing of cheerful things in circles passing by.

__

"Bid farewell to Reavers Town, say so long to bored renown.

Sing a song -- it won't be long before we're casting off!

Cross the gold and silver seas, the salty spray puts us at ease

Day and night, to our delight the voyage never ends!"

__

I bounced along with the upbeat tempo that the Tone Dial and the chorus had set up. I was sure that I could head Brook singing in it, so did that mean that this was something from the crew that had made that promise to the whale Brook mentioned?

__

"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew!

Pirates we eternally are challenging the sea!

With the waves to rest our heads, ship beneath us as our beds,

Hoisted high upon the mast our Jolly Rodger flies!

Somewhere in the endless sky, stormy winds are blowing high.

Waves are dancing, evening comes -- it's time to sound the drums!

But steady, men, and never fear -- tomorrow's skies are always clear

So pound your feet and clap your hands till sunny days return!

__

"Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!

Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!

Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!

Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!"

Brook made a motion, stopping the rest of us from singing for a moment as he took a solo.

"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew.

Wave good-bye, but don't you cry -- our memories remain.

Our days are but a passing dream, everlasting though they seem.

'Neath the moon, we'll meet again, the winds our lullaby."

Luffy ended up leading the rest of us in singing the next verse, his voice actually coming out pretty well and holding the melody...despite the example of singing that he had demonstrated when we had first come onto the island.

"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew!

Sing a song and play along for all the oceans wide!

After all is said and done, you'll end up a skeleton,

So spread your tale from dawn till dusk upon these bony seas!"

__

"Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!

Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!

Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!

Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho!"

As I listened during the last verse, I noticed that the chorus that had been singing through the Tone Dial had started to become more quiet...almost like it was losing its members.

There came a thudding noise from the Dial.

_ "Where is everyone?" _ Brook's voice asked through the Tone Dial. _"This has turned into a quartet."_

Another thud. I was starting to notice that there was a lack of something in the music.

_ "A trio." _

A third thud. I noticed that the melody was pretty much gone at this point, as all that was left was a violin and the piano.

_ "A duet." _

A fourth thud. I winced when I realized that the piano was left as Brook's recorded voice came from the Dial.

_ "A solo." _ Brook's voice sounded pained. _"It isn't right, leaving just the accompaniment!"_

The piano kept going for a while...and then a few wrong keys were hit, and one last thud resounded before I felt an uneasy silence.

Brook, though -- the real Brook, the Brook who was here -- picked up the melody of the song as the recording gave out -- at least for a couple more bars. No one else really seemed to notice that the recording had given out -- except for Robin and me, who exchanged looks.

"Do you think...at that point...." I trailed off, not wanting to say what exactly it was that was on my mind.

"Most likely," Robin responded, looking a little serious. "I wouldn't be surprised. After all, Brook has been alone for fifty years, and he had to have died at some point before then."

"Hey, skeleton? Are you done singing?" a Rolling Pirate suddenly called out. "Sing another song! Just one more!"

I looked over at the piano, and I saw that Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp were standing there, all looking at Brook as he looked over the Tone Dial -- which he now held in his bony fingers. With a cry, the skeleton opened up the top of his head again and dropped the Tone Dial inside.

"HE DID THAT WEIRD HEAD THING AGAIN!!" Sanji and Usopp yelled at once.

"Is that really the best place to hide that thing?" I asked, blinking as Brook started playing "Binks' Sake" on the piano again. "I mean, what if he ends up getting whacked in the head and it ends up falling out? It doesn't exactly seem safe...."

"Sometimes, the best places for things to hide are up here," Robin responded lightly, motioning to her own head. "After all, we hide our secrets here, do we not?"

"And mine's hiding secrets that I don't even know about right now," I groused, scowling. Either what I said or the expression on my face caused Robin to chuckle amusedly in response.

"I'm so glad to still be alive!!"

The noises of everyone else in the room partying died down when Brook called out in what sounded like a wailing tone to me.

Robin smiled slightly before she rose and walked over to stand next to Nami and Lola. I, not one to be left behind, trailed after her.

"I'm so glad I never gave up, no matter how hard it was!" Brook continued.

"Of course you are!" Luffy responded from where he lay, balancing on top of the open piano.

"I've waited so long for this day to come!" Brook continued. He wailed for a couple more seconds before calming down. Then he asked Luffy the last question I had been expecting.

"So, does the offer to join your crew still stand?"

"Yeah, welcome aboard," Luffy replied. It kinda sounded as though he had been expecting it.

"What?!" Usopp and Sanji exclaimed in surprise. "Just like that?!"

"For real?!" Chopper and Franky yelled at once.

Nami let out a scream of shock while I sighed and shook my head. I had to wonder if they were overreacting.

Robin chuckled as the guys -- minus Zoro, of course -- rushed past us, grabbed the skeleton and started throwing him into the air.

"But good to have you!" Usopp added. "We've finally got our musician!"

"He may be all bones, but he sure knows how to play!" Luffy exclaimed, laughing. "I've been wanting a musician since forever!"

"He's as light as a feather!" Chopper continued.

Franky, Usopp, Sanji, and Luffy suddenly scattered, leaving just Chopper and Usopp to catch Brook.

"By the way, what do you call a singing skeleton?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah, tell us, Brook!" Chopper insisted. The two of them threw him forward.

"A natural _bone_ singer!" Brook exclaimed as he landed on one foot in front of Luffy.

Our captain promptly burst out laughing and threw his head back so far that it ended up right in Nami's face. "He's hilarious!"

"I get it already," Nami responded, getting annoyed.

I snorted out of amusement and ducked my head a little. Well, Brook joining the crew was going to make things interesting.

"Our ship is going to grow even livelier," Robin commented, amused.

"You got that right." I looked over at her, grinning.

Nami sighed. "Why do we always have to attract _those_ types?"

"Everybody's got their own quirks," I responded. "Even the people who look and act like they're normal." I paused to consider what I had just said, considering what I could remember about myself. "Course, being 'normal' is kind of a relative thing, isn't it...?"

"I'm not sure what happened, but you guys seem happy, Namizou," Lola commented from nearby.

"Uh..." Nami gave a shaky smile. "Thanks, I guess."

"We don't know what the deal is, but...CHEERS!" The Rolling Pirates raised their mugs of booze as one, grinning like idiots. "We're totally lost, but...CHEERS!"

There came a slamming noise as Brook rammed his head into the wall. "45 Degrees!"

The Rolling Pirates burst out laughing as some of our crew joined in.

"Huh?" I blinked a couple times before getting what it was that Brook was talking about. "Oh! He's leaning against the wall at 45 degrees to make a triangle! I get it!" Just the fact that it was really silly for a skeleton to try something like that caused me to collapse into giggles.

"Yohohoho! Let me introduce myself anew!" Brook turned around and pulled out a sheet of paper that looked a little worn and torn with age, but still seemed to be well-preserved. He slammed it onto the stone ground as he went into a kneeling position, facing Luffy.

"A wanted poster?" Sanji asked. Oh, so that's what it was? Sanji must have had a better view of what was under Brook's hand than I did. "So you're a wanted man?"

"I apologize for the late introduction," Brook continued. "I am the dead and skeletonized Brook. I have a bounty. I am known as the Humming Brook. My bounty is 33 million Beris."

33 million? Well, it's more than Nami's, but it's definitely way less than Luffy's. I guess it's not too bad.

"A long time ago, I was the leader of a battle convoy in the kingdom of my origins. After that, I was the musician and swordsman of the Rumbar Pirates, succeeding Captain Yorki as their captain until their demise!"

Wha -- Brook was a captain? I raised my eyebrows in surprise when I heard that.

"As of today, my life is in the hands of Captain Straw Hat Luffy! I will work myself to the bone to avoid tripping everyone up. Yohohohoho!"

"All right! Let's have another drink!" Luffy grabbed mugs and passed them around to me and the rest of the crew before he grabbed to two for himself.

We ended up partying the rest of the day away after that, and the further along the party went, the more loopy everybody seemed to get. I held off from drinking _too_ much, because I didn't want to end up getting addicted to it like Zoro was, but I think I ended up enjoying myself just as much as everyone else did. Although, I think I ended up laughing the most when the Risky Brothers attempted to have a singing contest while Franky strummed a guitar he ended up bringing out while Brook played the piano.

When people started dropping off to go to sleep, I looked around at the mess we had made and commented dryly, "I think some people are going to be waking up with hangovers in the morning."

"That sounds about right," Robin agreed, chuckling.

I let out a yawn. "At any rate, I should probably go to sleep, too. If anyone's looking for me, I'll be back on the _Sunny_ in bed rather than out in the courtyard again."

"Good night, Maria." Robin gave me a kind smile before she disappeared into the crowd of pirates again. I think that Franky was calling for her to watch a dance he had just made up or something.

I sent a nod in her direction before I made my way out of the mansion and started back towards the ship. I felt absolutely exhausted, and Arceus knows I needed to sleep. Badly.


	26. Zoro's Recovery

** Maria's POV **

The next morning, I woke up to find that Robin and Nami had followed me back to the ship sometime in the night. I was a bit too distracted by what I had managed to remember when I was sleeping, though.

It's just...how in the world did what I knew now make any sense? It felt right...but then again, it didn't. It felt like I had been split in two.

I shook my head. I could figure it out later. For now, I was going to grab my stuff and step off the ship for a while. Maybe I could do something on Thriller Bark before we went off for FishMan Island.

I grabbed my satchel from where I had left it before the party yesterday, then threw it over my shoulder and stepped out of the girls' quarters as quietly as possible.

The sunlight was warm on my skin as I stepped out onto the deck. It felt good to out and about under it.

"All right, Franky. I got the stuff you asked for. Do you have everything else in place?"

I moved to the edge of the upper deck and looked down when I heard Usopp's voice. I saw the sniper and the shipwright on the deck -- and it looked like Franky and Usopp were ready to build something, what with the wood and tools that the two of them were carrying.

"Yup!" Franky gave Usopp a thumbs-up. "Let's get moving before Brook figures out what it is that we're doing."

With that, the two of them moved off the ship and down onto Thriller Bark.

"Huh. I wonder what it is that they're doing...." I blinked a couple times before shrugging it off. It probably wasn't any of my business, and I probably wouldn't be of much help.

I started over to the main deck just as Chopper came out of the galley -- in his little adorable form.

"Morning, Maria!" the little reindeer greeted cheerily.

"Heya, Chopper!" I replied, smiling. I noticed that his blue backpack looked a little more stuffed than it normally was, and I hedged a guess. "Going to have a look at Zoro?"

Chopper nodded. "I've been using those Oran and Sitrus Berries as salves on his wounds, and I'm going to need to change the bandages and check on how he's healing. If they work like they're supposed to, Zoro might actually wake up soon. But I might not be able to be there, because I need to check on everybody else, too."

"Well, maybe I can keep an eye on him," I suggested. "I'd kind of like to get some things done in that memory journal, and I could do some of that while I'm waiting."

"Really?" Chopper looked at me with a wide-eyed expression. "That's awesome! Do you think I could have a look later to see how far you're progressing?"

"I don't see why not." I smiled lightly. "So, where's your patient, Chopper?"

"Zoro should still be where he was last night. Come on."

Chopper and I moved off the ship and walked into the wrecked courtyard of the mansion before we made our way to where he had been having our party the night before. The mess of plates and mugs were still all over the room, but the corner where Zoro was was pretty much untouched.

Chopper and I stepped over mugs and the occasional snoring Rolling Pirate in order to get to Zoro. I sat down on a nearby slab of rock and pulled the notebook and some writing materials from my orange satchel while Chopper unpacked his little blue backpack and started to unwrap the bandages from Zoro's head.

I forced myself to sort through the memories that I had managed to recover over the course of everything that had happened before I started writing what I could remember.

My body started writing before my mind had a chance to catch up, but it managed to catch up anyway.

" _I woke up inside a large submarine -- that's the furthest back I can remember. That's when I first met Lea. And that's when everything starts going wonkers."_

Then my hand shifted from writing to drawing, sketching out spiky hair, a flowing black robe...a strange weapon that looked like a sword and was and wasn't one at the same time. I had to be extra careful when figuring out the flames that were part of the metal, too.

Everything kinda devolved from writing out what memories I had recovered to my notes on the whole thing. Including a quick run-down of everyone that I had run into and what had happened to them. That actually helped sort through my memories more than just getting them back.

"Looks like Zoro's wounds are healing nicely," Chopper spoke up, getting me to look up from what I was doing. It looked like he had finished changing the bandages, because there was a pretty big pile of bloody ones on the floor now, and there were new ones on Zoro. "I didn't think I'm going to need to put the salve on all of them, but some of them looked like they needed more of it."

"Well, at least he's healing, right?" I responded, smiling slightly.

"Yeah. I'm not nearly done yet, though." Chopper frowned. "And I still have no idea how he managed to get this hurt...and who knows how badly his insides are right now."

"Well, you're going to be able to make him rest, right?" I asked.

Chopper's expression contorted to one of annoyance. "I wish. Zoro would probably try to get up anyway and try to train without a second thought."

"Seriously?" I frowned at that. "That doesn't seem necessarily safe...."

"I know! But nothing I do gets the point across! It's really annoying!"

There came a groan from somewhere nearby. "Your voice is really annoying. You mind shutting up?"

I stiffened when I realized who it was that was talking, and I turned my attention to look at the man who was lying near me, covered in bandages.

"Ehh?! Zoro!" Chopper looked at Zoro in surprise. "I didn't think you'd wake up this soon!"

"Soon?" I frowned at the reindeer. "It's been what, three days since Kuma showed up? How long did you think he was going to be out -- a week?"

"Maybe? I didn't think that he would heal this fast..."

"Three days?" Zoro repeated aloud. "I've gotta get back to training...." He started moving his arms as though he was going to get up, but then he grunted and just let them lie limp. Something tells me that moving hurt. A lot.

"You're not going anywhere," Chopper said in a determined voice. "Not with how much damage you've taken. If you think that you can just get up after whatever-it-was that happened, then I'm going to sit on you in Heavy Point."

Zoro's expression shifted slightly when he heard what Chopper had said. I didn't exactly know what to make of the look on his face before he regained his usual grumpy expression. "All right, fine. I can't move my legs, anyway. These bandages are too tight."

"I'm not exactly surprised," I muttered, thinking back to what Zoro had looked like not too long ago.

The thought of asking him what had happened tickled the back of my mind for a moment, but I shook it out; there really wasn't too much of a reason in my knowing at this point.

There came a loud growling noise from somewhere, and Zoro suddenly gained a look that nearly made him red in the face. Just seeing the nervous expression on his face was enough to force me to hold back a few giggles.

"Well, you haven't eaten for three days, so I guess that's to be expected," Chopper commented aloud, ignoring the look on Zoro's face. "Sanji's gonna be here soon with food for breakfast, so you shouldn't have to wait too long."

"Tch."

"Maria-san! Chopper! How's the moss head?"

As if right on cue, Sanji came whirling into the room, carrying a couple boxes. It was really easy to smell the food that he happened to be carrying in them.

"Zoro pretty much just woke up," I responded, looking over at the cook.

Zoro's stomach let out another growl, and we all looked at the swordsman, who sent a glowering look back at us.

Sanji gained a wide grin, looking amused. He snickered. "Sounds like he knew I was coming before you two did."

"Maria, could you help me prop Zoro up?" Chopper asked. "He's probably not going to be able to sit up properly yet."

"Sure." I put down my notebook and moved over behind Zoro while Chopper shifted to his Heavy Point and went and grabbed a rock slab from somewhere else in the room.

"Let me help, Maria-san." Sanji put down the boxes he had been carrying and moved over by Zoro's head.

"I don't need any help," Zoro groused, annoyed. He started to try and lift himself up by moving to prop himself up by his elbows, but he was moving pretty slowly. It probably hurt at least a little bit in order to be able to move.

"Oh, no you don't." Sanji and I put our arms under Zoro's shoulders and pulled him upright before he could even have a chance to protest. Chopper slid the rock slab that he had grabbed under Zoro, and then Sanji and I lowered the swordsman carefully onto the slab.

"Thanks for the help," I said, nodding to Sanji.

"It was no problem, Maria-san," Sanji responded, looking a little lovey-dovey like he usually did when talking to a girl.

Zoro snorted, looking like he could do without Sanji's comments. I kind of felt the same way, but I was starting to get used to it. So I ignored the fact that Sanji was looking at me like he was in love and instead started to unpack the boxes that Sanji had brought with him. It didn't take too long to get all the food out, and man, did it look delicious.

Zoro grumbled something that I didn't catch, but Chopper did.

"You're not getting any sake yet," Chopper said pointedly, glaring at the swordsman. "I don't know what it's going to do to your insides for now, so you're going to have to wait."

Zoro glowered at the doctor, and the two of them glared at each other for what felt like half a minute before Zoro let out a reluctant sigh.

"Fine," the swordsman muttered in a low growl. "But I'm not going to be fed like some baby."

Chopper hesitated for a moment, then gave a slight nod. I guess that was as close to a compromise as he was ever going to get. "All right, but don't try to push yourself too much, okay?"

Zoro grunted in response as Sanji moved the food closer for Zoro to be able to reach: a couple sandwiches and smelled like some kind of seafood soup -- maybe some of the leftover scraps from last night.

"This is all that's left," Sanji explained to Zoro. "Luffy and those other pirates inhaled the rest."

Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"We had a bit of a party all day yesterday," I explained. "I'm surprised you didn't wake up when the singing competition started -- some of the competitors sounded awful." I snickered at the memory.

Zoro eyed me for a moment, then turned his attention to the food. He started moving slowly, purposefully, and proceeded to start eating. Something told me he'd probably appreciate it if we weren't watching, so I turned and moved back to where my stuff was sitting. I picked up my notebook again as I sat down on a nearby rock slab, paging through what I had managed to write and draw already.

"Just a little more," I muttered under my breath. I grabbed my pen again and went back to writing and sketching, glad that the ink wasn't smearing around as I worked.

"What have you got there, Maria-san?" Sanji came over, curious.

"Chopper suggested that I keep track of what memories I've recovered," I replied without looking up. I added the finishing touches to the sphere that I had just finished, wishing that I had some coloring pencils so that I could give it some proper shades. "It's kind of turning into a sketchbook with little notes everywhere else. I promised Chopper that he could have a look at it later, when I'm done figuring out what I know so far."

"Oh? Have you drawn any pretty ladies in there, Maria-san?"

Zoro snorted. "Is that all you think about? Maybe _you_ should be the one to lose your memories."

"If you weren't in such bad shape already, then I'd kick your ass for saying that." Sanji shot Zoro a glare.

I snorted. "If I was going to tell you if I had women in here, I don't want you to tear any pages out so that you can hide them away somewhere. Besides, so far, one woman is already married, another is a villain who tried to kill a princess, and the others that I've met have all been powerful enough that they would probably think that you were patronizing them or something by acting as you usually do to women."

Sanji looked like he was about to say something to disagree with that, but then Zoro let out a short burst of laughter.

"And I can hold my own just fine, too," I added. "I've relearned a few techniques that I could use to take people out without them so much as touching me."

Which reminds me...I should probably put a list of my techniques somewhere for reference later. I twirled the pen in my fingers for a moment, then went back to writing so that I could figure out more about what I could remember.

_ "If I ever find Atlantis again, I have to keep Nami from doing anything stupid. The last time that anyone tried to take the city's treasure...see Rourke. Besides, I'm sure that we have more than enough treasure on the ship after raiding Thriller Bark." _

"Atlantis?" Sanji was watching me write from over my shoulder. "Where's that?"

"Ah..." I paused, thinking back to what I had managed to remember last night. "Basically, it's a city that has really advanced technology that ended up disappearing under the sea floor a few thousand years ago or something like that. People still live down there without needing sunlight or anything like that."

"What?" Chopper looked at me in surprise. "How is that possible? Everyone needs sunlight in order to survive!"

"These people don't need it." I remembered what I had hiding in my pocket, and I pulled out the purple crystal that I had rescued from the treasure pile. "Everyone wears a crystal like around their neck. It helps to sustain them without needing sunlight." I frowned at the crystal. "Although, the ones that I saw were the color of Franky's hair, not a dark purple like this. Something must have happened to this one in order to change the color like this. At least it lets me know who owns it." I put it back in my pocket.

"Who owns it?" Chopper repeated.

"Yeah." I frowned slightly. "I got a flash of a memory when I grabbed it. The crystal belongs to a girl named Myra. I'm getting the feeling that she's a friend of mine, but I still don't remember how we met or anything like that."

Sanji started spinning around the room. "Myra! What a beautiful name! I'm sure she looks just as beautiful!"

I rolled my eyes and snorted at Sanji's actions while Zoro sneered at him.

"Myra could look like an old hag," the swordsman said, grinning.

"Maria-san said _girl,_ you idiot," Sanji responded whirling on Zoro and glaring at him.

A thought occurred to me, then. "You know, Zoro could be right."

"Eh?" Sanji looked at me with an expression of alarm.

"Depending on how long she's been without that crystal, age could have caught up to her in a rather nasty fashion. Some people with these crystals have lived for hundreds of years, and who knows what could happen if they lose them?"

"Hundreds of years?!" Chopper's jaw dropped in surprise. "That's a miracle!"

"And it means that, if we ever end up going there, all the pretty ladies are going to be Sanji's seniors by over a century -- or more, even." I grinned at the cook, who looked a little aghast at the idea.

"Heh." Zoro smirked. "That'd be a sight to see."

I couldn't help but snicker myself, remembering something that had happened some time ago. "I was part of an expedition team that ended up going down there. One of the members -- a head geologist or something like that -- ended up whispering something in French to almost every single woman he met. They usually ended up kicking him in the gut for his trouble, and I think I can guess why, even though I have no idea what exactly it was he was saying."

"An expedition?" Chopper repeated in surprise. "I hope you guys had a good doctor to make sure that everyone was all right."

"We did." I paged through the notebook for a moment before finding a sketch of the man in question. "His name's Sweet." I showed Chopper the picture. "He's a big man, but he's got a big heart to match."

"Wow...that's pretty cool."

"You have any swordsmen on that crew?" Zoro asked.

I shook my head. "No. But we did have a cook. His name was Cookie, and he was _awful._ "

"Awful? With a name like that?" Sanji looked at me with a disbelieving expression.

"He thought that grease was one of the food groups." I made a face and stuck my tongue out. "And his food looked like pig slop."

Chopper cried out in alarm. "That's awful! How did you manage to survive?"

"I think I'm still asking myself that question...." I rubbed the back of my head somewhat nervously, chuckling in the same tone.

Zoro whistled appreciatively. "You've got to have an iron stomach if you can live on anything that's worse than Sanji's cooking."

"What was that?!" Sanji whirled on Zoro with an angered expression on his face.

"Sanji," Chopper said in a warning tone.

"Hey, Chopper!"

We turned our heads and caught sight of Usopp standing in the hole in the wall.

"I need a little help with something that Franky and I are working on," Usopp said. "Think you could give us a hand?"

"What do you need?" Chopper asked. I frowned and cocked my head to one side at Usopp's question.

"We need flowers -- tons of them. Think you could sniff out some nice-looking ones for us?"

Chopper's expression brightened. "Sure!" A slight frown came over his face. "But, I have to keep an eye on Zoro."

I glanced over at Zoro and blinked in surprise when I saw that the swordsman had fallen back asleep -- or, at least, had closed his eyes. All the food Sanji had brought along was gone, too.

"I could stay here and keep an eye on him while you're busy," I suggested. "I'll make sure that he doesn't try to go anywhere or anything. Besides, I have some writing that I want to be able to get done." I waved the notebook in my hand around, as though that was proof enough.

Chopper hesitated, then gave a slight nod. "Well, all right."'

"I could stay here too, Maria-san," Sanji said brightly, smiling widely.

"It's fine, Sanji," I replied, shaking my head. "Maybe you should check in on Nami and Robin and see if they need anything? And if they don't, do you think you could bring me back something to drink?"

Sanji "love tornado'd" out the hole in the wall before I had finished my question.

Usopp looked at me, amused. "You wanted to get rid of him, huh?"

I flushed. "Was it that obvious?"

Usopp grinned widely. "I don't think anyone else'd be able to tell."

"Hey, Usopp -- why are you looking for flowers, anyway?" Chopper asked, going over to the sniper.

Usopp started to explain to the doctor what was going on as he walked across the rubble-strewn courtyard. "W-well, Franky noticed something while he was repairing Brook's old ship, and...."

I watched them walk away, smiling slightly to myself before going back to my notebook so that I could finish writing and drawing what it was that I could remember.

It didn't take me too long to finally finish off writing what I had remembered. By then, Sanji had come back with lunch for both me and Zoro.

"I'm sure that Chopper's going to have a field day going over what I've got in here," I commented, closing my notebook as Sanji started to set everything out.

"What do you mean, Maria-san?" Sanji gave me a curious look as he handed me one of those delicious fruit drinks of his.

I blinked at the question before frowning slightly. "Well, with what I can remember now, I think the whole 'seeing the future' thing has managed to mostly explain itself."

"Really?"

"Yeah..." I scratched the back of my head. "I'm not exactly sure what to make of it, though, because it suggests that there's more to me than just what I know now....and then there's the memories I got back when I was hit with those ghosts."

I muttered that last part under my breath. If Sanji noticed, he didn't give a reaction.

Zoro let out a grunt shifted where he was lying, causing me to turn my head and look over at him as he cracked his eyes open. His eyes instantly went for the food that Sanji had brought.

I chuckled. "Hey, Sanji. I think Zoro's up."

Sanji turned his head and looked over at the bandaged swordsman. He snorted, then brought over some of the food he had brought with him so that Zoro could reach it.

Zoro grabbed at the wooden mug Sanji was carrying before the cook could even put it down. "Sake. About time." He promptly started chugging its contents.

"Didn't Chopper say you couldn't?" I responded, frowning.

Sanji swiped the mug from Zoro's hand, causing the swordsman to send a sour glare at the cook. "That was mine, moss head. Don't go thinking that everything I'm bringing in here is for you." As if to prove his point, Sanji promptly drained what remained in the mug before putting it well out of Zoro's reach.

"Tch. Whatever." Zoro looked away from Sanji and turned his attention to the food that the cook had brought. Then he started eating at a faster, more casual pace than he had this morning -- without looking like he was being pained with ever movement he was making.

I blinked when I saw how easily Zoro was moving, wondering if he was pushing himself. Then I remembered that Chopper had used some Oran and Sitrus Berries to make a salve and I put two and two together.

I chuckled. "You feeling like you're full of energy yet?"

Zoro glanced over at me, his eyes narrowing slightly at my question.

"Chopper used some Oran and Sitrus Berries to make a salve for your wounds," I explained. "They're known to give a pretty decent amount of energy -- I've eaten a few sometimes when I've needed to get my energy back. They can also make some wounds heal pretty quickly, so I was wondering if you had started to feel their effects yet."

Sanji blinked, digesting what I had just said.

"Yeah, I guess you could say something like that," Zoro commented, smirking. "Is this one of those recipe things you showed him?"

"Yup." I hummed, smirking. "Helpful, right?"

Zoro's smirk broadened into a half-smile. "I might be able to get back to training faster this way."

I'm not surprised that that happened to be the first thing out of his mouth.

I smirked while Sanji shook his head, frowning and muttering something under his breath.

"Chopper's not gonna like it if he hears you saying that," I remarked.

"Tch." Zoro didn't look the least bit bothered. "He's the one who made me heal faster. It's not my problem."

I'm sure Chopper's going to make sure that it's his problem anyway.

** Time Break **

Zoro ended up spending the rest of the day switching back and forth between being asleep and being awake, and each time he woke up he started to look more like his old self and less like someone who had been on their deathbed three days ago.

Chopper ended up coming back in the late afternoon with a bounce in his step and a happy sparkle in his eye. "Hi, Maria! Hi, Zoro!"

I had finished writing by then and had moved to reading _The Lord of the Rings._ It felt good to have the book in my hands, and I really wanted to see what was going on with the characters in the book -- even if real life was more than adventure enough.

I looked up from my book and gave the reindeer a grin. "Hey, Chopper. Did you just get done with what Usopp asked you for help on?"

Zoro raised an eyebrow at my question. He had been awake for the last few minutes and looked like he kind of wanted to do something, but was comfortable right where he was...for now. "You helped Usopp with something?"

Chopper nodded. "Franky was fixing Brook's ship -- you know, the one he was on when we ran into him -- and he found what looked like the remains of people stuffed in coffins in one of the storerooms. They were probably what was left of Brook's crew mates, so Franky and Usopp decided that they were going to make a proper grave for them. Usopp wanted me to find some flowers so that they could decorate it properly." Chopper's delighted smile was so wide and bright that he was beaming. "Franky and Usopp said they were planning on showing Brook it tomorrow!"

I gave a bright smile myself. "I'm sure he's going to love it, knowing that they have a proper resting place now."

"Nice work, Chopper." Zoro gave an appreciative nod.

If Chopper could blush from embarrassment, he probably would have. As it was, he started dancing about, saying, "Your praise isn't going to make me happy, you bastards!"

I chuckled a little and shook my head. I wished that people wouldn't use swear words so easily, but I doubted that I was really going to be able to do anything about it.

A certain swordsman started to shift his position, causing Chopper to stop dancing and glare at Zoro.

"You shouldn't be moving yet!" Chopper barked, pointing an accusing hoof at Zoro.

Zoro, who happened to be halfway off this temporary bed by now, gave the reindeer a glare. "I feel fine, Chopper. And I feel like I should be moving."

Chopper started to open his mouth to protest, but I beat the little guy to it.

"This is the first time that you're using the Oran and Sitrus Berries I gave you for a salve, right?" I asked.

Chopper paused, blinking for a moment. "Yeah, that's right."

"They're meant to speed up recovery of energy and healing of wounds in these situations. Zoro's had that stuff on his wounds for a good while now, and it would make sense that they might have healed enough that he would be able to move around for a little while. We can keep him here in the room so that he doesn't end up tripping over something while he gets used to moving around again."

Zoro grunted, folding his bandaged arms across his bandaged chest and looking a little annoyed at the idea of being confined to one room.

Chopper hesitated, considering what I had said. It looked like he wasn't sure about what I was suggesting, but I knew that I knew more about those Berries than everyone else did -- at least, when it came to how they worked.

"Well...all right," Chopper relented. "But just in here, all right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Zoro muttered grumpily. He pushed himself off the rock slab he had been lying on and got himself to his feet. He didn't even bother with trying to find his sense of balance -- Zoro just started moving as soon as he was upright.

Which nearly caused him to topple forward.

Before Chopper could move, I slipped under one of Zoro's arms and heaved him upright -- well, as upright as I could get him. Zoro was definitely taller than I was, so I was only able to get him up so far.

Zoro sent me an unreadable look when he felt me move under his arm and pull him up. Then he let out a grunt and pushed himself upright the rest of the way, using me as a kind of crutch. When Zoro started moving again, I moved with him, somehow managing to keep in step with him as the swordsman slowly traversed the room with an expression of intense concentration on his face.

I guess he didn't really want to think so much about the fact that he might need help from me to stay upright. Plus, there was the whole "still wounded" thing.

"You're doing good, Zoro!" Chopper said encouragingly. "If you feel like you're going to fall over, let me know, okay?"

Zoro didn't say anything in response. I got the feeling that he wasn't going to be willing to say anything that might reveal his weakness at the moment. Especially after how long he'd been sleeping.

Zoro managed to make it to the other side of the room and back without another stumbling incident. In fact, by the time he got back, he was moving a lot more confidently -- confidently enough promptly turn around and start walking across the room in a different direction, but not towards the hole in the wall.

"You weren't kidding when you said that the salve would make him heal faster," Chopper said, looking at me and Zoro with wide eyes.

"Well, I know those Berries pretty well," I responded off-handedly. "Usually, though, they're mixed with Pecha Berries, too -- that helps to stave off any possible infections that might show up."

"Those pink ones, you mean?"

"Uh-huh."

"I'd probably just eat one and I'd be fine," Zoro said in his usual bored, annoyed-sounding voice.

I blinked. "I guess so. They've got a pretty sweet taste, so it's not going to be like most medicines that might be made with regular herbs."

The look that came over Zoro's face when I said that got me to look at him in surprise.

"It's sweet?" Chopper repeated in surprise. He frowned slightly. "Now that you mention it, that book you showed us did say what each Berry tasted like...."

"Uh-huh." I smiled, glad that Chopper remembered. "Most children's medicines are laced with Pecha Berries to make them easier to swallow -- because it masks the taste of the herbs and whatever else they happen to put in there. Although...." I looked back at Zoro. "Do you even like sweet stuff? Like chocolate?"

Zoro grimaced at the question. "Chocolate's _too_ sweet."

I blinked at that. I didn't think that anyone _could_ dislike chocolate, much less admit it willingly.

Chopper looked especially aghast. "You don't like chocolate?! How?!"

"Like I said, it's too sweet." Zoro's expression turned into a scowl as he reached the rock slab he had been lying on a moment ago. He was starting to look a little unsteady on his feet, and I guess he sensed that because he sat down on the rock slab without Chopper telling him to.

"Well, I guess each person has their own tastes," I commented thoughtfully. "I remember that Sanji got this eager look on his face when I mentioned that some Berries were actually really spicy...."

Chopper made a gagging noise. "I hate spicy foods!"

I motioned to the reindeer. "And there you go. You don't eat spicy foods, and Zoro's not a real fan of the sweet stuff." I shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure what I would say I like or dislike -- not yet, at least."

Zoro grunted, but he didn't say anything to add to the conversation.

"Oh, I see." Chopper nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Maria."

I chuckled. "No problem."


	27. Farewell, Thriller Bark!

**Maria's POV**

Chopper ended up carrying Zoro back to the _Sunny_ after Sanji had come around with dinner...and then a few hours later to make sure that I was alright. Zoro was asleep (again) by then, so Chopper didn't have to deal with Zoro claiming that he could walk on his own.

I don't doubt that he could have been able to, but Chopper and I agreed that it would probably be better if he slept for a little while longer rather than try to push himself.

I didn't get any dreams that night that were new. It ended up turning into a massive review of what I had managed to recover over the course of the night on Thriller Bark...minus the nightmares that Perona's ghost had given me.

The next morning, I woke up with the strangest feeling that I was missing something. As I sat up, I reached for my chest and grabbed at my shirt, blinking when I didn't feel a familiar weight there. A weight I hadn't had during my week in Water 7 before I met the Straw Hats, even.

"Hey, what's up?" Nami came over, giving me a curious look.

"Huh?" I blinked, then looked over at the navigator, who was standing next to my bed with a concerned frown on her face. "Oh, it's just...." I looked down at my chest again, then let out a sigh and released my shirt. "Something came up in my memories, and I realized that I was missing something, that's all."

"Really?" Nami looked even more interested. "What is it?"

"You remember that purple crystal I -- err, you let me take from your treasure pile? The one I said belonged to a friend?"

Nami nodded. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I had one, too, but it's more of a sky blue. I can't remember when and where I lost it, though...." I frowned, trying to force the memory to come to me, but I ended up failing at bringing up so much as a hint. I let out a sigh and shook my head. "Maybe one of my friends or family members has it and they'll give it back when we find them."

"Well, it's a shame that you don't have it. It sounds like it could look like a beautiful piece of jewelry...." Nami paused for a moment, as though considering something. "And Chopper said that you told him those necklaces can make someone live longer."

I felt my spine stiffen a little, and I remembered what had happened when I had initially gotten mine. "It'll only work if you're accepted by the people who has them. Otherwise, there's a very high chance that you'll get turned into a mindless crystal monster."

"Sounds like a very dangerous jewel," Robin commented. I turned my head out of surprise and saw her leaning against the doorframe, her usual, curious expression on her face. "Judging from what you said, I assume that you actually saw that occur?"

I gave a nod. "Yeah. A greedy man who wanted to sell the source of the crystals for profit ended up cutting himself on a piece of glass that was infused with its energy and...." I shuddered at the memory. "Rourke didn't look too nice after that, believe me."

Nami gained an interested expression. "You're saying that someone tried to steal it and failed?"

"Be glad he did! He would have killed an entire ancient civilization that lives under the ocean floor otherwise!" I shot back. "And then where would they be but dead?" I got out of my bed, starting to feel a little sour at the memory of what Rourke had tried -- and failed -- to do. "I don't think anyone's going to try to do it again, but I don't want you to get any ideas into your head, Nami."

"An ancient civilization?" Robin was sounding _really_ interested now. "I haven't heard of one that was underneath the sea floor and still surviving."

That made me pause and remember something that had popped into my head yesterday. "Ah...that may be because of something that's been bugging me for a while."

Robin and Nami exchanged looks, then both gave me curious stares. I picked up my notebook from where I had stuffed it in my satchel and held it in my hands, tapping on the cover.

"I'm...not exactly sure what to make of it, but...." I trailed off, bit my lower lip in hesitation, then told them what my memories were suggesting.

Nami looked at me like I had just said that Gekko Moriah was a relation of mine (which is definitely not true -- no way am I related to that shadow-bloated monster). "That shouldn't be possible! Are you serious?!"

"Judging from the expression on her face, I should think so," Robin commented off-handedly. "However, I have to admit, I am somewhat skeptical."

"I can pull things out of nowhere and I have Berry trees growing on deck that you guys haven't even heard of before," I said flatly, motioning to the ceiling. "Something tells me there's a lot more proof to what I'm saying that it seems."

"Pull things out of nowhere?" Nami repeated.

I sighed, then stuck my hands in my pockets and pulled Myra's purple crystal from one pocket and my Cleanse Tags from the other one -- Usopp and Chopper had given theirs back to me after we had gotten back to the _Sunny._ They looked a little ragged now, but they were still in good enough condition that they should still work.

"I can pull these things out of my pockets when it looks like they're completely empty," I said. "Do you realize how weird that sounds? If I had eaten a Devil Fruit like we've led the Marines to think, then it can't just be what they think it is already on my poster."

Nami and Robin exchanged glances as I put the items back in my pockets and removed my hands; I could feel the items' presence there for only a moment, and then it was like I didn't have anything in the pockets of my jeans at all.

"All right, so it's a little weird," Nami said finally, "but we already know that you're weird because you didn't eat a Devil Fruit in the first place."

"But how much more weirdness am I going to find the more memories I get back?" I argued.

"I wouldn't argue that it is 'weird,' Maria," Robin corrected. "It seems more likely that your memories are...interesting. Especially considering what you have managed to discover already. It is going to be very interesting when we finally manage to find your family."

"One of the many pieces of my past that I haven't managed to remember yet," I muttered, frowning.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Nami came over and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "We'll find them eventually. For now, you should just concentrate on getting your memories back."

I hesitated at the statement, remembering what had come back when Perona's ghosts had made that cold hole in my chest. "Yeah...."

"Come on -- let's go get some breakfast." Nami turned and walked out of the room and past Robin, who remained leaning against the doorframe. I didn't notice that Robin was still there until she said something.

"You seem concerned about something. Is it your memories?"

I jumped at the question then looked at Robin with a blank expression. A moment later, I gave a slight nod.

"If you are this interesting without all of your memories, I have no doubt that your family is all right," Robin continued.

"You didn't see what I saw." My gaze hardened. "When the ghosts hit us. There are some things that I've remembered that I want to forget from that."

Robin's expression shifted. "Have you forgotten what you have seen of me?"

I flinched at the tone her voice had taken. "No; I haven't. But you haven't walked through a graveyard that has the rest of the crew already buried six feet under, with you the only survivor. Because you weren't there to help them."

Robin's expression shifted again at the tone of voice that I had taken. She looked surprised, but she also appeared to be rather grim.

"Those memories...they make me really worried, but...the feeling's muted somehow." I rubbed at my chest worriedly, wishing I had my Atlantis crystal hanging there so that I could feel its comforting warmth. "I don't know if it's because I don't have all of my memories or not, but I know that I don't like it."

"It might not be a good idea to dwell on it now," Robin said carefully. "If they have done as you think you see, then you have no choice but to stay with us after you've managed to recover all of your memories." She turned and started out onto the deck, a sad smile on her face.

I blinked, considering that. What Robin had said was true, I suppose -- I mean, I am a part of the crew now, and they kind of feel like they're close to me now, too....

"Maria-san! Are you going to come and have breakfast?"

I shook myself out of my thoughts when I heard Sanji calling. "Yeah, I'm coming!" I dropped my notebook back on my bed and jogged out of the girls' quarters before entering the galley. Everyone else -- minus Zoro and Chopper -- were already in there, waiting eagerly for Sanji to lay out the food.

"How dare you make us wait!" Luffy complained at me as I sat down. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry," I responded, ducking my head in embarrassment. "I was just thinking something over, that's all."

"Well, you can do that after breakfast!" Luffy pointed a fork at Sanji. "Food! Now!"

"All right, all right," Sanji muttered in response around his cigarette. He quickly laid out his delicious dishes for the morning, and everyone instantly went into a frenzy as they tried to keep their food away from Luffy. I was sitting at the furthest away from Luffy -- who had Brook and Usopp sitting on either side of him today -- and our captain was still able to reach across the table in order to try and grab at the omelette that I happened to have on my plate. I just made it a point to smack his hand towards someone else's plate every time he came near mine.

"Maria, stop doing that!" Nami complained from where she happened to be sitting. "You're making him take twice as much food from the rest of us as usual!"

I swallowed the mouthful that I had been chewing. "Well, what do you suggest I do? I'm not planning on making a fire barrier -- we already know that's not going to work."

Robin simply chuckled, amused.

When the Breakfast War was done, Sanji tried to drag Usopp into the kitchen in order to wash the dishes, but the sniper instantly protested.

"Franky, Chopper, and I have to show something to Brook!" Usopp said quickly, moving away from the cook. "I'll take care of the dishes after, okay?"

Sanji frowned, but then he gained an expression a moment later that said he understood. "All right, but make sure that you get right back here, all right?"

"Show me what?" Brook asked in confusion.

"Oh, you're going to love this," Franky responded, grinning largely. "Come on." He started to move out of the galley, Brook and Usopp following after the shipwright.

"Chopper's probably going to want someone to keep an eye on Zoro while he's out," I commented, standing. "Since I did that yesterday, I don't see why I can't do it again."

"Are you sure, Maria-san?" Sanji gave me a curious look. "I'd be willing to make sure that moss head stays in bed."

I shook my head. "It's fine, Sanji. Thanks for the offer, though."

I started moving towards the infirmary, leaving Sanji swirling around the kitchen like the love-sick teen he was. I was nearly at the door when something suddenly reached out and grabbed me by the shoulder.

"I wanna see Zoro," Luffy said, catching up with his hand.

"Kay." I didn't even bat an eye as I opened the door to the infirmary and stepped inside. "Hey, Chopper, Usopp and Franky are going to show Brook what you worked on yesterday. You might want to go with them so you can tell him who picked the flowers."

"Ah!" Chopper nearly jumped out of his seat. "That's right! Can you--"

"We'll keep an eye on Zoro," Luffy promised.

"Thanks, Luffy!" Chopper scrambled out the door, yelling, "Usopp! Franky! Wait for me!"

I watched the reindeer scramble off, a smirk working its way across my face.

Luffy snickered. "Brook's gonna be really happy when he sees what they did."

"You mean that grave thing?"

I looked over at Zoro, who was sitting upright on the bed in the infirmary. He had fewer bandages on his arms now, and he'd gotten a change of clothes -- he had a short-sleeved vest and was actually wearing boots.

"I'd like to see it," Zoro commented. His gaze moved to the four swords leaning against the wall -- wait a sec, _four_? "One of my katanas is dead and needs a proper resting place."

I frowned. Dead? Wait -- does that mean it's broken?

...I think he mentioned something about that after Enies Lobby, but I'm not exactly sure.

Luffy nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

I turned and looked at Luffy in surprise. "Are you sure? Zoro's still recovering from that whatever-it-was that gave him all that damage."

"Well, yeah. I mean, Zoro's gotta take care of his sword." Luffy grinned. "Chopper just said that we had to keep an eye on Zoro, right? So we can make sure that he gets to where Brook and the others are, no problem."

"You don't have to talk like I can't hear you," Zoro growled, glaring at the both of us.

I ducked my head at that. "Sorry."

Zoro looked at me for a moment, then shook his head and stood up. He grabbed his swords and attached three of them to the green haramaki on his waist before gripping the fourth -- a sword in a completely black sheath. He started out of the infirmary, Luffy and I following after him.

"So, when are we planning on heading out?" Zoro asked as we walked down the deck and started for the floating island we were still docked at. "You better have not forgotten about Fishman Island yet, Luffy."

"Shishishishi! I haven't forgotten, Zoro. Chopper wanted to wait and make sure that everyone was all right first. You're awake now, so we can leave anytime he's ready."

"Good."

We didn't say anything else until we got to the graveyard outside of the mansion. Franky, Chopper, and Usopp were standing near the entrance, looking pretty proud of themselves.

That is, until Chopper saw Zoro walking on his own.

"Hey!" Chopper practically leapt at Zoro, shifting into his Heavy Point and standing in front of Zoro, stopping the swordsman short. "You shouldn't be moving around!"

"I feel fine, Chopper," Zoro replied, irritated. "Besides, I need to do something before we can even think about getting off this island." I could hear his grip tightening on the sword that he was carrying.

"It's fine, Chopper," Luffy piped up. "You did a good job making sure that Zoro was all right."

"He's still not all right," Chopper argued, sending Luffy a sour look. "Whatever it was that happened to him caused a lot of damage to his insides, too. It's going to take his organs a long time before they're back to full strength."

Zoro slipped past our doctor as he was speaking and walked into the graveyard. I could hear a violin playing faintly -- probably Brook.

Still, what Chopper made me a little worried. "If he was hurt that badly, the Oran and Sitrus Berry salves probably won't be able to do as much as we'd like. If we could hide some in Zoro's food, that might help speed things along, but it not be able to take care of everything. All those Berries do is give you energy -- what your body does with it is up to you."

"Do you think that crystal you have will do anything to help?" Chopper shrank down to his adorable size as he looked at me curiously.

"You mean Myra's?" I reached into a pocket and instantly grasped the purple Atlantean crystal.

"Crystal?" Luffy repeated, confused.

"It's something that I found with the stuff from Thriller Bark, and I know that it belongs to a friend," I explained to my captain. "I'm not sure it'll be of much help, though...it belongs to a specific person, and if that person isn't nearby to use the energy for healing, then it's just a weird-looking rock." I pulled out the crystal and showed it to Luffy, as though that was proof enough.

Luffy leaned in and looked at the crystal, a blank look on his face. "Huh. Does that mean it's not gonna work for Zoro?"

"I don't think so, no. Since it's not mine, I can't give it willingly and let it do its magic. My friend, Myra, would have to be the one to do that, and I have no idea where she is." I put the crystal back in my pocket. "Maybe, if we manage to find her and Chopper says that Zoro's insides are still healing, then she might be able to do something."

"You remembered one of your friends?" Usopp asked, looking at me in surprise.

"That's super, Maria!" Franky declared, grinning.

"I only remember what she looks like and what her name is," I responded quickly. "I haven't been able to remember what she's like or anything like that yet."

"But that's progress!" Usopp argued. "Now if we run into her, you'll be able to recognize her on sight!"

"I guess." I rubbed the back of my head and let out a slight chuckle. "It helps that I can remember more about what I've done, too. I'm starting to keep a list of the techniques I've managed to remember, and I think that it's going to get longer the more I remember."

"How much longer?" Chopper asked.

I shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe really long?"

Luffy laughed. "That'd be really cool if you knew a lot of stuff!"

I nodded in agreement, grinning.

"We should probably be heading back," Franky commented, glancing back at the ruined mansion. "I want to make sure that Lola and her crew know that they can use Brook's old ship to get off this floating island, since I made sure that the rudder was fixed."

"Ah! And we can make sure that we're ready to go when Brook and Zoro are ready!" Luffy nodded in agreement. "Let's go!"

**Time Break**

The sun was up pretty high in the sky by the time that Zoro and Brook came back to the _Sunny_ , when we had managed to finish off our final checks of the ship (and I had burned the spider's web that had been keeping us in place).

"All right!" Luffy called out, grinning at the rest of us from where we stood on the dock. "Now that Zoro's awake, we can head out to sea! Onto our next adventure!"

"Yeah!" the rest of us responded. I raised a fist in the air while Usopp and Chopper jumped for joy, grinning like idiots.

Then Chopper did a sudden 180. "Zoro, you took off your bandages again, didn't you?!"

Huh?

I looked over at the swordsman and blinked in surprise when I saw that he wasn't wearing any bandages on his arms or chest. Now why in the world would he do that? I'm sure that he's got a few scabs hiding somewhere that could end up getting rubbed the wrong way.

"Of course I did," Zoro responded as he started moving towards the _Sunny._ "They made it hard to move."

"They're there to make sure you _don't_ move!" Chopper barked at him. Then he pulled out a roll of bandages from somewhere on his person and jumped Zoro from behind. "Stay still!"

"You guys sure are high-spirited," Lola commented, amused as she watched Chopper go at it on Zoro. She looked back at Franky. "You're setting sail already?"

"Yup! Whenever you feel like leaving, you can take Brook's old ship," Franky responded, pointing to the large ship that was next to ours. "I fixed the rudder and the sails."

"Thank you." Lola smiled brightly. "You're really helping us to the end here. No matter how much I thank you, it won't be enough. Will you marry me?"

I stared at Lola with an expression of shock as she popped the question on Franky. Seriously? She was _still_ trying to get one of the boys on our crew to marry her?

"You're a fine gem, but it won't work out," Franky responded, pulling out a comb and working it through his hair. "I'm too super to settle down."

I blinked. Well, that's one way to say no.

"It's too hard to say goodbye to you guys!" said the masked Risky Brother from nearby. "Wanna stay and party for a few more days?"

"We can't!" Luffy responded. I have to admit, I became a little dumbfounded when I saw the sparkles appear around his face, even though I had seen them a few times before. "We're off to Fishman Island next! I can't wait! There's going to be some interesting guys there!"

At Luffy's words, Sanji started dancing around. "Some beautiful mermaids as well! I can't wait to play with them!"

Hearing _that_ got a few nasty ideas into my head, and I shook it vigorously in order to try and get the pictures out.

"I wonder if the mermaids would be so kind as to permit me to see their panties," Brook remarked thoughtfully.

Nope. Don't want to think about it.

"Hey, hey!" the brown-haired Risky Brother pointed to Brook. "Don't go saying dumb things!"

Finally, someone was going to stop this nonsense.

"Mermaids don't _wear_ panties."

"Gah!" I clamped my hands over my ears and glared at the Risky Brother -- as well as Sanji and Brook, because they promptly unleashed a pair of jet nosebleeds.

"If you're talking about a mermaid's beauty, they even give the Pirate Empress Hancock a run for her money!" the Risky Brother continued.

I looked at the Risky Brother, Sanji, and Brook as they started dancing about the dock, chanting, "Mermaids!"

"Seriously, what a bunch of perverts," I muttered, folding my arms across my chest in a huff.

"Isn't a mermaid's lower half like that of a fish's?" Robin asked, a slight frown on her face as she watched the three of them.

"I think so," I responded, looking over at Robin. "I haven't run into any in my memories so far as I can remember, but that sounds like something that should be true."

"Why do you guys know so much?" Usopp asked, looking at the masked Risky Brother with a curious frown.

Now that he mentions it...it is kinda curious....

"Well, before we came here, about three years ago, we went to Fishman Island! It's the greatest!"

"You what?" I looked at the Risky Brother in surprise.

"Lola, you guys went to the New World?" Nami asked, looking up at the Rolling Pirates' captain.

"We didn't go there," Lola corrected. "We were born in the New World! My mama's a pirate there!"

"Your _mom's_ a pirate?" I blinked in surprise. "I guess some things run in the family, then."

"Ah, that's right!" Lola pulled out a piece of paper and tore it in half. "This is Mama's Vivre Card. You can have it."

"It just looks like regular paper to me," I remarked, looking over as Nami took the paper.

"Yeah," Nami agreed in an almost absentminded tone.

The masked Risky Brother dashed over. "This is great for you guys! Captain Lola's mama is a really amazing pirate, you hear? Take good care of it! It'll surely help you later!"

"What is a Vivre Card?" Nami looked up at Lola.

"Huh? You don't know?"

The brown-haired Risky Brother stopped dancing with Sanji and Brook and came over. "Captain Lola, they only make Vivre Cards in the New World, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" Lola nodded to the Risky Brother, then looked back at Nami. "This isn't just ordinary paper. You can wet it or burn it and it remains unscratched."

"Really?" I blinked in surprise.

Lola nodded. "If you take a piece of your fingernail to the shop where they make these, they can add it in a mix and create a special piece of paper for you. And that's the 'Paper of Life,' the Vivre Card!"

I was pretty amazed with it. It sounded like something that was pretty interesting, but....

"What do you do with it?" I asked.

"The idea is to tear off a piece and give it to a family member or friend that'll be going on a long journey," Lola explained.

"So?" Nami prompted.

"Take a look." Lola leaned over and put her Vivre Card on the dock. "This is the Vivre Card I got from my mama." She removed her fingers from the paper...and it started twitching and moving across the deck!

"It's moving!" Nami and I exclaimed at once.

"This paper will allow you to meet with the one who also has it no matter where in the world they are," Lola explained. "So I'll always know which direction my mama is headed, though it doesn't tell the distance."

"That's so neat!" Chopper exclaimed, getting little sparkles around his eyes. "So there's loads of things like that in the New World?"

"That's pretty handy," I commented, watching as Lola picked up the paper again.

"Yes it is," Lola agreed. She motioned for Nami to give back her piece of the Vivre Card before pulling out a pen. "Since I'm signing this Vivre Card Mama gave me, if you ever have a problem, you can use it to find Mama and she'll help you out." She held it out to Nami again. "If that ever happens, do you think you could tell her I'm doing well?"

"Sure," I responded.

"Thank you, Lola!" Nami took the Vivre Card and looked at it in newfound admiration. Something told me that we were definitely going to be making use of that in the future, if we ever did run into anything bad.

Which, knowing Luffy....

"Hey, hold on...don't I have one of those already?"

I jumped a bit when I heard Luffy's voice from behind us. I turned and looked at our captain in confusion. "Huh?"

"I was just thinking the same thing," Nami remarked, looking back at our captain. "Wasn't that white paper Ace gave you the same thing?"

"Huh?" I looked back and forth between Nami and Luffy, confused. "Ace has a Vivre Card that he gave Luffy?"

Luffy gained a determined frown on his face as he took off his straw hat and started pulling at something behind the red ribbon. "So that's what it was...." He pulled something out. "This is it--huh? That's weird -- I thought you said these things couldn't burn."

I blinked and looked at the paper with an expression of surprise and concern. "Yeah, that is pretty weird...."

Lola let out a gasp. "Wait -- let me see that!" She motioned quickly for Luffy to hand over the Vivre Card, which Luffy did.

Lola looked down at the slowly burning paper in her hand for a moment, then let out a slight gasp.

"What is it?" I asked.

"This is definitely a Vivre Card," Lola finally admitted, "but I haven't told you that this paper represents the life force of its owner!" She looked over at Luffy. "This belongs to someone important to you, doesn't it?"

Luffy grinned. "Yeah! It's my big brother's!"

Lola paused, considering that, then looked down at Ace's Vivre Card again. I gained something of a nervous expression when I saw that Lola looked rather grim.

"Lola?" Nami asked, curious.

"I'm sorry to say this...." Lola looked back at us. "But your brother's life...is in terrible danger right now..."

I stiffened when I heard that, while Nami let out a gasp and Luffy looked like he didn't know what to say to that. "What? It's in danger?"

Lola nodded grimly, then gave the Vivre Card back to Luffy. "If someone has a Vivre Card, and they've been injured in some way, it's reflected in their Vivre Card when it starts to burn."

I swallowed nervously. "That...doesn't sound good."

**Time Break**

Despite the bit with the Vivre Card, Luffy was quick to get all of us up onto the deck of the _Sunny_ so that we could get moving to Fishman Island. The Rolling Pirates scattered for the wall around Thriller Bark as we started for the gate that happened to look like a mouth. I didn't figure out why they needed to do so until the gate started to open up ahead of us.

The Rolling Pirates cheering from the wall was definitely a big surprise, too, but I kinda expected it. I stayed back by Robin and waved up at the pirates as we passed through the gate and out into the open waters; everyone else made it a point to yell at the top of their lungs while Franky covered his face and his tears.

"See you guys!" Luffy called out. "Good luck!"

"We'll never forget this debt, Straw Hat!" I heard a voice call back.

"Thank you for giving us the sun!" shouted a second voice.

"Everyone, please be careful and don't get wiped out!" Brook called.

"Don't even say that!" Usopp yelped at the skeleton in response. "Are you out of your mind?!"

I snorted and sent a sidelong glance at Robin, who looked somewhat amused by Brook's statement.

"If he had not said it, I would have," the woman said matter-of-factly.

"I'd believe it," I responded.

"Lola, thanks for the Vivre Card!" Nami called. "Take care!"

"Please give my mama word of me!" Lola called back. "I hope we meet again someday, Namizou!"

"She still calls Nami that?" I asked, blinking. Robin chuckled, but didn't say anything that might have hinted at what she knew.

"All right!" Luffy jumped down onto the deck. "Set sail!" Then he shot up to the top of one of the masts -- the one with the crow's nest on it.

The rest of us scattered across the deck -- Zoro, who had torn off his bandages _again,_ disappeared somewhere before Chopper had the chance to panic and start to wrap him up like a mummy. I saw him come back a moment later, though, leaning against one of the main deck's railings. Nami and Franky went up to the front of the ship to make sure that we were heading the right direction, and Sanji disappeared inside the galley. Brook moved to stand by the mast and took out his violin. "Binks' Sake" was soon floating through the air.

"So, Maria."

"Hmm?" I turned my head and looked at Robin curiously.

"After our trip through Thriller Bark, I assume that you've discovered something new in your memories about things you have seen?" the archeologist asked calmly.

I blinked a couple times before I nodded. "Yeah, but none of them are Pokemon. It's kind of weird, really, the stuff that I just remembered...."

Luffy suddenly slammed into the deck, coming down from the crow's nest. "What's weird?"

"Just my memories." I scratched the back of my head, closing one eye as I thought back to what I had managed to remember. "I'll tell you guys about it later, when everyone's out on deck, I think."

"Hey, Luffy." Nami came over to us. "Is this really all right?"

"Huh? Oh, Ace's paper, right?" Luffy reached for his hat, where he had hidden the Vivre Card again. "He'll be fine; don't worry about it!"

I remembered the burning paper that had been in Lola's hand and frowned. How could Luffy be so carefree about it? His brother might be in danger.

Brook paused in his playing. "Luffy-san, I wouldn't be bothered in the least if we took a detour. Time has proven to be no obstacle to myself or Laboon. To live and meet one another is all that matters."

"Luffy, we're cool if you want to take a detour!" Usopp piped up in agreement.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go anywhere!" Chopper agreed.

"Yeah!" Franky piped up. "I wanna meet Luffy's bro!"

"No, it's really fine," Luffy repeated. "Even if Ace is in some kind of trouble, he wouldn't want me worrying about him or come and bail him out. Besides, his little brother rescuing him would drive him crazy. He hates to show his weak side, and he never asks for help."

Sanji appeared on the main deck, carrying wooden mugs filled with what I guessed was alcohol. He handed Robin and Nami one each before he came over to me and let me take my pick.

After that, he started tossing them to the guys on deck.

Luffy caught his, then added, "If we went to help him, he'd just get pissed off."

I flinched back a bit when Sanji threw Zoro one so hard it nearly hit the railing next to his head. It was obvious that Zoro was annoyed at that, but he didn't move from where he was sitting.

"As pirates, we're supposed to be rivals, anyway. Ace's adventures are his business, even if they turn out bad."

Sanji finished tossing around the mugs to everyone else, then put the platters he had been carrying the mugs on down on the deck. He picked up a mug himself and said, "About that Vivre Card; apparently it doesn't just shrink when you're in danger. It also grows when you're better."

"Good, then I'll see him when he's back to full strength!" Luffy declared. "That's why Ace gave me that paper, right?"

I guess that made sense. Still, I'd have some worry if I had a brother who was in trouble like the Vivre Card was suggesting.

"Oh yeah, Zoro!" Luffy turned and looked down at the swordsman. "You've been sleeping this whole time, so you missed out!"

Zoro, who had been about to start drinking, looked up at Luffy in confusion.

"In that case, let's redo this!" Usopp declared. "In celebration of our new crewmember, Musician Brook, joining the crew!"

We all raised our mugs. "Cheers!"

"Really, you're too kind!" Brook called.

After we had all quickly drained our mugs, Luffy called, "All right, then! Onward, straight ahead! Let's get outta here with a Coup de Burst!"

There came a unanimous call of agreement, and Franky quickly went and charged the thing up. I took my chance to grab onto the deck railing near Zoro and Luffy, grinning.

Franky didn't waste any time. Within seconds of my grabbing the railing, the ship blasted up into the sky.

Brook started freaking out. "WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS?!"

Luffy burst out laughing, and I gained a wide grin. There was no doubt about it -- our new crewmember was definitely going to make things interesting.


	28. Heartless and Keyblades?

** Maria's POV **

When the _Sunny_ hit the sea again, it took Franky a couple minutes to calm down the skeleton. After Brook had been assured that no, the ship was _not_ going to go blasting off again unless Luffy ordered it, Luffy and Robin looked over in my direction and both gave me curious looks.

"What were the memories that you managed to recover here, Maria?" Robin asked, looking at me curiously.

Ah. Well, I did tell them about Pokemon, so...well, why not?

"Okay...I guess seeing those zombies and hearing about what Moria did with your shadows made me remember a whole slew of events." I rubbed the back of my head. "I mentioned this a couple times to some of you guys...I ended up getting into an expedition that ended up going not only deep underwater, but _under_ the ocean floor, to a hidden city called Atlantis. I ended up getting involved in their problems down there...which involved creatures that seemed to be made almost out of darkness."

Robin's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Creatures made out of darkness?" Chopper repeated, blinking. "How is that possible?"

"Well, apparently, in that part of the world...they come about because of darkness in people's hearts -- their negative emotions or dark thoughts they could have against others. I know that, for instance, greed can attract the little monsters, or hate, or a dark sense of revenge. What the monsters are called, though, depends on what made them form in the first place."

I decided then that I should try that trick I did only once before -- when Lil had found us and had asked me to show her something.

A name came into my head as I started to gather the energy. "Mirage Break."

The temperature of the air changed slightly, and two creatures were suddenly standing in the center of our group; one was a little black monster that had beady yellow eyes and antenna sticking out the top of its head. The other was some weird-looking fish that looked like it had come into an accident with a pile of paint cans.

"Whoa!" Luffy jumped back in surprise. "Where did those things come from?"

"It's a mirage, Luffy," Nami responded, frowning. "I didn't think that you could make those, Maria."

I shrugged. "I came up with it recently. Anyway, these are two monsters that can come about because of darkness. One is called a Dream Eater -- they're basically creatures that are born from nightmares." I pointed at the fish, which twitched a little before vanishing in a puff of colored smoke. "The other one is called a Heartless." I gave the black monster a dark look. "These things find people's Hearts and pretty much eat them in order to make more Heartless."

Chopper and Usopp screamed and grabbed at their chests. "I don't wanna have my heart eaten!"

"Not that heart!" I barked at the two of them. "It's more like a part of your soul."

"So, these Heartless creatures possess the abilities of the Shadow Shadow fruit, like Moria?" Brook guessed.

I gave a slight nod. "Something like that. The Hearts that Heartless like to go after are basically what makes a person who they are -- their personality and their memories."

"Take that away from a person, and what does that leave them with?" Robin asked softly.

I paused. "That depends on the amount of willpower they have."

"Willpower?" Sanji repeated.

"No matter what, if you end up having your Heart consumed, you end up turning into something called a Nobody." I activated "Mirage Break" again, bringing up a slim, white figure with no face and blades for arms. "That's what most Nobodies -- the people who have very minimal willpower -- end up looking like."

Looks of disgust rippled across the crew while Chopper and Usopp made uneasy noises.

"The more willpower you have, the more likely you are to keep what you usually look like. The problem is that you're not truly yourself. The Nobodies that I've heard of are constantly searching for their Hearts, and will do anything to get even one to fill the cavity in their soul." The mirage changed to something else. "A friend of mine was in that state for a while, but he managed to find his Heart again. His name's Lea, but he went by Axel as a Nobody."

"Interesting," Robin spoke aloud. "So a Nobody with enough power turns their names into anagrams and adds the letter 'X' to their names."

"Hey -- does that mean they turned into Nobodies because they had their shadows stolen?" Usopp jabbed a thumb at Sanji, Zoro, Luffy, and Robin.

"Um...." I frowned at the question, then shook my head. "Nobodies aren't weak to sunlight, and a Heart isn't the same as your shadow in that situation."

Usopp and Chopper let out sighs of relief.

"Since you're talking a lot about how Heartless steal Hearts, there's gotta be a way to purify them, right?" Franky scratched his head, frowning at me.

"Purif -- oh, I get what you're asking." I nodded to the Mirage of Lea, and the black-robed teen held out a hand before a bright flash caused a flame-like blade to appear in his hands. "That's a Keyblade. Cut a Heartless with it, and it releases the Heart it consumed."

Zoro stiffened a little. "Keyblade? That can't be right."

We all looked over at the swordsman; I blinked a couple times in confusion.

"Zoro...do you know about them?" Nami asked in surprise.

Zoro hesitated a moment, seeing that everyone had their eyes on him. "They're supposed to be some kind of mythical sword that's shaped like a key. I heard about them from my sensei, who claimed that his father saw one when he was younger." The swordsman snorted. "I don't think they exist."

I jabbed a thumb at the mirage of Lea, who smirked and yanked down an eyelid while sticking his tongue out. A moment later, he disappeared in a flash before being replaced by a silver-haired, stocky teen with a dark look on his face. He was holding a sword that looked like a dark-feathered wing of some kind. "I think that Lea and Riku here would beg to differ." I let the mirage fade.

Zoro snorted. "So, those two use Keyblades, huh? I didn't think that they'd look like some kind of key, not a sword."

"It's used as both," I responded, frowning slightly. "Didn't your...sensei tell you that?"

"All he said was that his dad saw one. He didn't say anything about what it was used for." Zoro folded his arms across his chest. "Heartless and Dream Eaters and Nobodies...sounds like something out of a kid's story."

I shrugged helplessly. "That's what the wizard Yen Sid called them. I think he was calling them that for the benefit of younger Keyblade users in the past, and the names kinda stuck."

Zoro snorted, still not believing.

"I think I've heard about something like that," Robin commented. "However, the stories that I found about them were considered myths. To see that you know something about them and can create mirages of two Keyblades and their users from memory suggests that there's more to the ancient tales than historians have thought."

I hummed and put my hands behind my back before I started rocking on my heels. "I hope that we'll be able to run into them sometime soon. Then maybe I can show you that they really are real and aren't creations of my imagination or anything like that."

"Well, some of that Pokemon stuff ended up turning out to be true...." Usopp trailed off, gaining a thoughtful frown. "And what you've said kinda sounds like a lie, but not really."

"Would someone explain to me what exactly it is that's going on?" Brook asked in confusion.

"Oh, yeah!" Nami turned and looked at Brook. "You don't know about Maria's problem yet."

"Problem?" The skeleton repeated in confusion.

"I have amnesia," I explained. "I've been working on recovering my memories, but with each one I recover, things get even more...crazy. That collection small trees that are on top of the cabins over there? The ones that aren't Nami's orange trees? They're proof that my memories are real rather than strange dreams."

Brook turned and looked back at the cabin. "Oh? That certainly is strange."

I nodded. "I've got some more memories back because of what happened at Thriller Bark -- that's where the information on Heartless and Nobodies came from. I'm started to get worried about what may end up coming next, though. I mean, Pokemon is one thing, but those Heartless creatures make me get a really bad feeling."

That, plus what I told Robin and Nami and don't want anyone else to learn about yet...and the Perona-induced nightmares.

"Ah! I see! Yohohoho! Well, I hope you manage to recover more good memories than bad ones, Maria-san." Brook gave what I thought looked like a respectful bow.

Thanks." I rubbed the back of my head, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. "We'll have to see what happens in the future, I guess."

"Maria-san, can you show us what those women from Atlantis look like?" Sanji asked, gaining a strangely eager expression.

Of course he was going to ask that now that he knew about my Mirage Break.

I gave him a deadpan expression and raised an eyebrow. When the eager look persisted, I let out a sigh and waved a hand. "All right, all right. This is the queen of Atlantis. Yes, she's married. Yes, her husband looks like a scrawny nerd, but he saved her life from an rather greedy man, so I don't think you can 'duel' him for his wife, if you think that you could do her better."

A slim woman with long, silver hair and a tribal outfit of some kind appeared next to a scrawny man with large glasses and an identically tribal outfit.

Sanji looked like he was about to swoon. Nami and Robin both looked impressed.

"If a woman like that can marry a man like that...." Nami trailed off.

"Interesting clothes," Robin commented. "I would like to see their city someday. It must be filled with historical accounts of events that may have been lost to history."

I hummed in agreement, letting the mirage fade.

Zoro snorted. "Like we're going to get there anytime soon. You said it's under the ocean floor, right?"

I nodded. "And there's a giant sea monster-lobster blocking the way." I shuddered at the memory of the sunken ship graveyard where the thing lived. "I'm lucky to be alive after running into that thing."

"A lobster-monster?" Usopp repeated, knocking his knees together.

"You had to face that?" Chopper asked, eyes wide.

"Cool!" Luffy exclaimed. "I want to find that thing and fight it! And then eat it!"

Nami slammed her fist into the top of our captain's head. "No, you don't! I've had just about enough action to last me for a long time, thank you very much! We just got out of Thriller Bark, remember?"

Luffy whined and rubbed his head, looking unhappy. "But Nami, adventure's fun!"

_ In moderation, _ I mentally added.

** Time Break **

The rest of the day ended up getting spent relaxing somewhere on the deck.

I ended up dragging my satchel out of the girls' quarters and out under the swinging tree on deck before pulling out _The Lord of the Rings_ and that book on constellations. My notebook was sticking out the top of my satchel, but I didn't bother to grab it; I'd already written everything that I'd wanted to write about my memories. The weather was nice and I didn't feel like being cooped up, and I wasn't about to waste it.

In fact, it felt so comfortable there that I ended up falling asleep with my back against the tree.

** Change in POV -- Chopper **

Chopper looked around the deck, wondering where Maria was and if he could have a look at her memory journal. He ended up finding the amnesiac lying under the swinging tree, with her books lying open on either her chest or next to her and the journal poking out of her satchel.

Clearly, she had been caught by sleep in the middle of reading _The Lord of the Rings_.

Chopper came over and pulled the journal out of Maria's satchel and started paging through it, wondering how Maria's memory recovery had been going -- besides what she had revealed earlier. Just thinking about the Heartless creatures sent shudders down his spine.

The first things he saw were the sketches Maria had made of some of the Pokemon and Mobian creatures she had mentioned back in Water 7. It amazed him that Maria was such a good drawer -- any better, and she might end up being on par with some of Usopp's stuff.

"Huh. I didn't think that a Mobian would look like that...." Chopper stared at the humanoid creature labeled "Sonic the Hedgehog" for a moment before he turned his attention to later pages and stiffened when he caught sight of the Heartless creature and Dream Eater creature drawn on one page.

The other pages had pictures of people -- Chopper saw Sweet first, and remembered when Maria had shown that a couple days ago. Another character had joined him there -- a scruffy, skinny man with a match stuck in his mouth. The name "Vinny" was written above his head, followed by the word "BOOM!"

"Boom?" Chopper spoke aloud in confusion. Maria didn't move to explain anything to him, though, so he kept moving through the other pages.

The next page had the queen and king of Atlantis. Chopper saw their names -- "Milo Thatch, King" and "Kidagakash -- also called Kida."

A crystal was drawn underneath them -- it looked identical to the purple one Maria had found, but it also had a note added to it -- that it was supposed to be sky blue.

"Huh," Chopper murmured to himself, almost absently. He blinked a couple times, then turned the page to the next set.

The next page over had a woman with "Audrey -- mechanic" and "Cookie -- very BAD cook" glaring at each other.

Chopper had to nod a bit at that. "Cookie" definitely did look like a bad cook.

The next page had a short, round man with a strange grin on his face and a pair of goggles over his face. "Mole -- geologist? Or man who really thinks he's a mole?" Maria had drawn him next to an old woman -- "Miss Packard; mans the radio."

When Chopper turned the page, he froze a bit at the sketches that were bunched together.

There was a woman there who seemed to have about the same body shape that Robin did, except she looked a lot more sinister. "Helga Sinclair -- backstabber and prisoner in Atlantis."

Next to her was a muscular man with a calm sneer on his face -- "Rourke. Stupid mercenary who got killed in Atlantis for trying to take their life source. White Flare'd him when he got turned into a mindless crystal statue -- no longer human; soul was overtaken by greed."

_ White Flare? _ Chopper blinked in confusion. _Is that one of Maria's attacks? I wonder what it is?_ He shuddered a bit when he read the rest of the message and caught sight of a jagged version of Rourke drawn in one corner of the page, looking like it wanted to tear something apart.

Chopper quickly turned to the next page and paused, blinking. Two older figures were standing together. "The former King and Queen of Atlantis -- King killed by Rourke; named Milo his heir. Queen sacrificed her life to Yobmok to protect the kingdom during a crisis centuries ago."

"Yobmok?" Chopper repeated aloud, testing the word. It felt really strange in his mouth.

"The Mother Crystal."

The reindeer jumped and turned when he heard Maria suddenly speak; he turned and saw that she had woken up and was starting to move so that she could lean against the tree.

"You'll find a sketch of her on the next page," Maria added.

Chopper blinked a couple times, then turned the page in the journal before he frowned in confusion. "It...it looks like a giant sphere."

Maria hummed. "That's exactly what she is. She's a bright, sky blue, too."

"Why is it called the Mother Crystal?"

"She's where the smaller crystals came from, and she's what keeps the entire city alive below the ocean floor, since they don't have sunlight down there." Maria leaned forward and tapped the sketch. "Yobmok makes sure that their ecosystem down there is completely stable, and makes sure that everyone is healthy. It protects the city if it's in danger, too, by calling on the royal family for help. That's why I wrote what I did for the last queen of Atlantis, before Kidagakash."

Chopper gaped at Maria. "You can actually pronounce that name?!"

Maria snickered at Chopper's surprise. "I've pronounced weirder things. There's a dragon Pokemon called Rayquaza, for instance. He lives up in the atmosphere and eats meteors."

"There's no way that Rayquaza could be weirder than that other name!" Chopper barked back.

Maria smirked and shrugged in response. "I wrote her other name there. Besides, Milo can't pronounce her full name, anyway."

"And...what about these two?" Chopper turned the pages back to Helga and Rourke. "What you've written here makes me think they're bad guys."

Maria frowned. "Ah, right. Them. They were kinda the leaders of the expedition that I ended up joining. They were trying to find what they thought were the _remains_ of Atlantis, hoping for treasures of some kind. They didn't think they were going to find an actual people, but it's not like Helga and Rourke cared all that much. They were just in it for the money. Well, they got what they deserved -- the Mother Crystal didn't take too kindly to either one of them. It turned Rourke into a mindless crystal monster that I ended up destroying, and I don't know what happened to Helga after we turned her over to the Atlanteans. Personally, I don't wanna know, considering that they betrayed Milo like they were used to that kind of thing."

"Wow. I'm glad that you were there to help out."

"I wasn't the only one -- Lea and Riku were there, too -- the two guys I showed you guys earlier with my Mirage Break."

"You mean the Keyblade users?" Chopper asked, looking at Maria curiously.

Maria nodded. "Lea actually helped me learn how to control my fire powers. It must've happened before I met any Pokemon, because I didn't mention any of them over the course of the expedition."

"What about the other guy? Riku?"

"He was sent to look for me and kinda got involved with the rescue mission of the Mother Crystal." Maria looked sheepish and rubbed the back of her head. "Thing is, I'm not exactly sure why. He was sent by someone, sure, but I'm not sure who."

"Sent by someone...?" Chopper blinked in confusion. "Who would be looking for you?"

"I don't know." Maria shrugged. "Maybe I'll be able to figure that out later."

"You might. From what it sounds like, you're recovering your memories at a pretty fast rate." Chopper closed the notebook and handed it back over to Maria, who took it and put it back in her satchel. "If you keep recovering memories like this, then you should be able to remember everything you've done in no time."

"I hope so!" Maria smiled at the reindeer.

Chopper smiled back, then caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. He turned sharply and started running over to Zoro, pulling out a roll of bandages.

As Chopper ran off, he left one page of Maria's memory journal unread -- the last one.

_ My memories are starting to scare me a bit. I've got everything from a few days after I turned 16 to the end of my journey as a Trainer, but it's everything that happens  _ after _that that's begun to scare me... I'm not sure that I really want to remember everything as a result._

_ I'm mainly concerned about the memories I got rather abruptly from Perona's stupid ghosts. That one nightmare about the graveyard and the thought that all my friends were dead was more than enough to shake me to the core the first time I had been hit. And the fact that the graveyard was completely filled with gunmetal gray metal pieces...well, I don't know how to make sense of it, to be completely honest. _

_ The second memory...that scared me even more. Pain at the back of my neck and in the center of my chest -- where Lucci managed to score a hit -- and torturers that didn't even look human...I don't want to think about it, but I have to because I'm writing this down. Just who were those shadowy figures that I saw? And what about those voices? They sounded so familiar...and that one figure who held me close and let me cry myself to sleep...who was he? He felt familiar somehow.... _

_ I hope that I can at least find out about the people I knew. The other memories, though...I hope that the good memories manage to outweigh the bad ones, like Brook said. _

_ But then there's what I managed to rediscover a few days ago. I don't want to write it here, but...just the knowledge of it alone is enough to make me question everything that I know about myself already.... _

** Moves Rediscovered: **

** Level Two: **

** Shock Wave **

** Icy Terrain **

** Level ???: White Flare -- 100 Percent **

_ The ice and lightning attacks seem to take more energy than the fire ones, and that White Flare attack takes a lot of energy in order to use...it'd probably be best if I saved it as a last resort. _


End file.
